scholarly journals Water transport mediated by murine urea transporters: implications for urine concentration mechanisms

Biology Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. bio051805 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kabutomori ◽  
N. Pina-Lopes ◽  
R. Musa-Aziz
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Water Transport ◽  
Matched Control ◽  
Surface Protein ◽  
Urine Concentration ◽  
Urinary Concentration ◽  
Transport Activity ◽  
Urea Uptake ◽  
Surface Protein Expression ◽  
First Time

ABSTRACTUrea transporters (UTs) facilitate urea diffusion across cell membranes and play an important role in the urinary concentration mechanisms in the kidney. Herein, we injected cRNAs encoding for c-Myc-tagged murine UT-B, UT-A2 or UT-A3 (versus water-injected control) in Lithobates oocytes and evaluated oocyte surface protein expression with biotinylation and immunoblotting, urea uptake using [14C] counts and water permeability (Pf) by video microscopy. Immunoblots of UT-injected oocyte membranes revealed bands with a molecular weight consistent with that of a UT monomer (34 kDa), and UT-injected oocytes displayed significantly increased and phloretin-sensitive urea uptake and Pf when compared to day-matched control oocytes. Subtracting the water-injected urea uptake or Pf values from those of UT-injected oocytes yielded UT-dependent values*. We demonstrate for the first time that UT-A2 and UT-A3 can transport water, and we confirm that UT-B is permeable to water. Moreover, the [14C] urea*/Pf* ratios fell in the sequence mUT-B>mUT-A2>mUT-A3, indicating that UTs can exhibit selectivity to urea and/or water. It is likely that specific kidney regions with high levels of UTs will exhibit increased urea and/or water permeabilities, directly influencing urine concentration. Furthermore, UT-mediated water transport activity must be considered when developing UT-inhibitors as novel diuretics.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.

scholarly journals Specific Seminal Plasma Fractions Are Responsible for the Modulation of Sperm–PMN Binding in the Donkey

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1388
Author(s):  
Jordi Miró ◽  
Jaime Catalán ◽  
Henar Marín ◽  
Iván Yánez-Ortiz ◽  
Marc Yeste
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Sperm Motility ◽  
Seminal Plasma ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils ◽  
Low Fertility ◽  
Plasma Fractions ◽  
Complex Fluid ◽  
First Time

While artificial insemination (AI) with frozen-thawed sperm results in low fertility rates in donkeys, the addition of seminal plasma, removed during cryopreservation, partially counteracts that reduction. Related to this, an apparent inflammatory reaction in jennies is induced following AI with frozen-thawed sperm, as a high amount of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) are observed within the donkey uterus six hours after AI. While PMN appear to select the sperm that ultimately reach the oviduct, two mechanisms, phagocytosis and NETosis, have been purported to be involved in that clearance. Remarkably, sperm interacts with PMN, but the presence of seminal plasma reduces that binding. As seminal plasma is a complex fluid made up of different molecules, including proteins, this study aimed to evaluate how different seminal plasma fractions, separated by molecular weight (<3, 3–10, 10–30, 30–50, 50–100, and >100 kDa), affect sperm–PMN binding. Sperm motility, viability, and sperm–PMN binding were evaluated after 0 h, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h, and 4 h of co-incubation at 38 °C. Two seminal plasma fractions, including 30–50 kDa or 50–100 kDa proteins, showed the highest sperm motility and viability. As viability of sperm not bound to PMN after 3 h of incubation was the highest in the presence of 30–50 and 50–100 kDa proteins, we suggest that both fractions are involved in the control of the jenny’s post-breeding inflammatory response. In conclusion, this study has shown for the first time that specific fractions rather than the entire seminal plasma modulate sperm–PMN binding within the donkey uterus. As several proteins suggested to be involved in the control of post-AI endometritis have a molecular weight between 30 and 100 kDa, further studies aimed at determining the identity of these molecules and evaluating their potential effect in vivo are much warranted.

scholarly journals Characterization of a Novel Fructosyltransferase from Lactobacillus reuteri That Synthesizes High-Molecular-Weight Inulin and Inulin Oligosaccharides

2002 ◽  
Vol 68 (9) ◽  
pp. 4390-4398 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. F. T. van Hijum ◽  
G. H. van Geel-Schutten ◽  
H. Rahaoui ◽  
M. J. E. C. van der Maarel ◽  
L. Dijkhuizen
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
High Molecular Weight ◽  
Lactobacillus Reuteri ◽  
Bacterial Strains ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Isolation And Characterization ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Encoding Gene ◽  
First Time

ABSTRACT Fructosyltransferase (FTF) enzymes produce fructose polymers (fructans) from sucrose. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of an FTF-encoding gene from Lactobacillus reuteri strain 121. A C-terminally truncated version of the ftf gene was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli. When incubated with sucrose, the purified recombinant FTF enzyme produced large amounts of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) with β-(2→1)-linked fructosyl units, plus a high-molecular-weight fructan polymer (>107) with β-(2→1) linkages (an inulin). FOS, but not inulin, was found in supernatants of L. reuteri strain 121 cultures grown on medium containing sucrose. Bacterial inulin production has been reported for only Streptococcus mutans strains. FOS production has been reported for a few bacterial strains. This paper reports the first-time isolation and molecular characterization of (i) a Lactobacillus ftf gene, (ii) an inulosucrase associated with a generally regarded as safe bacterium, (iii) an FTF enzyme synthesizing both a high molecular weight inulin and FOS, and (iv) an FTF protein containing a cell wall-anchoring LPXTG motif. The biological relevance and potential health benefits of an inulosucrase associated with an L. reuteri strain remain to be established.

Design, synthesis and thermotropic self-organization of dendronized polystyrenes with different length alkyl tails

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (34) ◽  
pp. 5445-5455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Yang ◽  
Dongxiong Mao ◽  
Sheng Chen ◽  
Hailiang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
High Molecular Weight ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Design Synthesis ◽  
First Time

A reentrant phase is observed for the first time in dendronized polystyrenes with high molecular weight through regulating the length of tail chains.

scholarly journals The erythrocyte membrane properties of beta thalassaemia heterozygotes and their consequences for Plasmodium falciparum invasion

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viola Introini ◽  
Alejandro Marin-Menendez ◽  
Guilherme Nettesheim ◽  
Yen-Chun Lin ◽  
Silvia N Kariuki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasmodium Falciparum ◽  
Surface Protein ◽  
Malaria Prevalence ◽  
Membrane Properties ◽  
Membrane Tension ◽  
Protective Properties ◽  
Beta Thalassaemia ◽  
Selective Pressures ◽  
Bending Modulus ◽  
Surface Protein Expression

Malaria parasites such as Plasmodium falciparum have exerted formidable selective pressures on the human genome. Of the human genetic variants associated with malaria protection, beta thalassaemia (a haemoglobinopathy) was the earliest to be associated with malaria prevalence. However, the malaria protective properties of beta thalassaemic erythrocytes remain unclear. Here we studied the mechanics and surface protein expression of beta thalassaemia heterozygous erythrocytes, measured their susceptibility to P. falciparum invasion, and calculated the energy required for merozoites to invade them. We found invasion-relevant differences in beta thalassaemic cells versus matched controls, specifically: elevated membrane tension, reduced bending modulus, and higher levels of expression of the major invasion receptor basigin. However, these differences acted in opposition to each other with respect to their likely impact on invasion, and overall we did not observe beta thalassaemic cells to have lower P. falciparum invasion efficiency for any of the strains tested.

scholarly journals The nanostructuring of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene in thermal and mechanical fields as revealed by DSC

2021 ◽  
Vol 2103 (1) ◽  
pp. 012095
Author(s):  
L P Myasnikova ◽  
A K Borisov ◽  
Yu M Boiko ◽  
A P Borsenko ◽  
V F Drobot’ko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
High Molecular Weight ◽  
Melting Temperature ◽  
Mechanical Characteristics ◽  
Thickness Distribution ◽  
High Strength ◽  
High Modulus ◽  
Know How ◽  
First Time ◽  
Ultra High Molecular Weight

Abstract The ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene reactor powders are widely used for the actively developing solvent-free method for producing high-strength high-modulus PE filaments, which includes the compaction and sintering of a powder followed by orientational hardening. To find an appropriate regime of the technological process, it is important to know how the nanostructure changes when transforming from a powder to a precursor for hardening. Nanocrystalline lamellae are characteristics of the powder structure. For the first time, the DSC technique was used to follow changes in the thickness distribution of lamellae in ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene reactor powder on its way to a precursor for orientation hardening. It was found that the percentage of thick (>15 nm) and thin (10 nm) lamellae in compacted samples and those sintered at temperatures lower than the melting temperature of PE (140°C) remains nearly the same. However, significant changes in the content of lamellae of different thicknesses were observed in the samples sintered at 145°C with subsequent cooling under different conditions. The influence of the lamellae thickness distribution in precursors on the mechanical characteristics of oriented filaments was discussed.

scholarly journals Microwave-Assisted Catalytic Synthesis of Bio-Based Copolymers from Waste Cooking Oil

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahrzadi Noureen Shahi ◽  
Muhammad Arshad ◽  
Aman Ullah
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Gel Permeation Chromatography ◽  
Waste Cooking Oil ◽  
Attenuated Total Reflection ◽  
Fatty Acid Esters ◽  
Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Co Catalyst ◽  
Cooking Oil ◽  
First Time ◽  
Acid Esters

Solvent free copolymerization of epoxides derived from fatty acid esters of waste cooking oil with phthalic anhydride using (salen)CrIII Cl as catalyst and n-Bu4NCl/DMAP as co-catalyst was carried out for the first time under microwave irradiation, where reaction time was reduced from number of hours to minutes. The polyesters were obtained with molecular weight (Mw = 3084-6740 g/mol) and dispersity values (D = 1.18-1.92), when (salen)CrIII Cl/n-Bu4NCl was used as catalysts. While in case of DMAP as a co-catalyst, polyesters with improved molecular weight (Mw = 5537-6925 g/mol) and narrow dispersity values (D = 1.07-1.28) were obtained even at reduced concentrations of (salen)CrIII Cl and DMAP. The obtained products were characterized and evaluated by attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) Techniques.

scholarly journals Neuroprotective Metabolites from Vietnamese Marine Derived Fungi of Aspergillus and Penicillium Genera

Marine Drugs ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 608
Author(s):  
Elena V. Girich ◽  
Anton N. Yurchenko ◽  
Olga F. Smetanina ◽  
Phan Thi Hoai Trinh ◽  
Ngo Thi Duy Ngoc ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Cell Viability ◽  
Chemical Structure ◽  
Aspergillus Terreus ◽  
Marine Fungi ◽  
2D Nmr ◽  
Natural Source ◽  
Low Molecular Weight ◽  
First Time

Low molecular weight secondary metabolites of marine fungi Aspergillus flocculosus, Aspergillus terreus and Penicillium sp. from Van Phong and Nha Trang Bays (Vietnam) were studied and a number of polyketides, bis-indole quinones and terpenoids were isolated. The structures of the isolated compounds were determined by 1D and 2D NMR and HR-ESI-MS techniques. Stereochemistry of some compounds was established based on ECD data. A chemical structure of asterriquinone F (6) was thoroughly described for the first time. Anthraquinone (13) was firstly obtained from a natural source. Neuroprotective influences of the isolated compounds against 6-OHDA, paraquat and rotenone toxicity were investigated. 4-Hydroxyscytalone (1), 4-hydroxy-6-dehydroxyscytalone (2) and demethylcitreoviranol (3) have shown significant increasing of paraquat- and rotenone-treated Neuro-2a cell viability and anti-ROS activity.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document