Polarity of the ascidian egg cortex before fertilization

Development ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Sardet ◽  
J. Speksnijder ◽  
M. Terasaki ◽  
P. Chang

The unfertilized ascidian egg displays a visible polar organization along its animal-vegetal axis. In particular, the myoplasm, a mitochondria-rich subcortical domain inherited by the blastomeres that differentiate into muscle cells, is mainly situated in the vegetal hemisphere. We show that, in the unfertilized egg, this vegetal domain is enriched in actin and microfilaments and excludes microtubules. This polar distribution of microfilaments and microtubules persists in isolated cortices prepared by shearing eggs attached to a polylysine-coated surface. The isolated cortex is further characterized by an elaborate network of tubules and sheets of endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This cortical ER network is tethered to the plasma membrane at discrete sites, is covered with ribosomes and contains a calsequestrin-like protein. Interestingly, this ER network is distributed in a polar fashion along the animal-vegetal axis of the egg: regions with a dense network consisting mainly of sheets or tightly knit tubes are present in the vegetal hemisphere only, whereas areas characterized by a sparse tubular ER network are uniquely found in the animal hemisphere region. The stability of the polar organization of the cortex was studied by perturbing the distribution of organelles in the egg and depolymerizing microfilaments and microtubules. The polar organization of the cortical ER network persists after treatment of eggs with nocodazole, but is disrupted by treatment with cytochalasin B. In addition, we show that centrifugal forces that displace the cytoplasmic organelles do not alter the appearance and polar organization of the isolated egg cortex. These findings taken together with our previous work suggest that the intrinsic polar distribution of cortical membranous and cytoskeletal components along the animal-vegetal axis of the egg are important for the spatial organization of calcium-dependent events and their developmental consequences.

2002 ◽  
Vol 457 ◽  
pp. 157-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
TURGUT SARPKAYA

The instabilities in a sinusoidally oscillating non-separated flow over smooth circular cylinders in the range of Keulegan–Carpenter numbers, K, from about 0.02 to 1 and Stokes numbers, β, from about 103 to 1.4 × 106 have been observed from inception to chaos using several high-speed imagers and laser-induced fluorescence. The instabilities ranged from small quasi-coherent structures, as in Stokes flow over a flat wall (Sarpkaya 1993), to three-dimensional spanwise perturbations because of the centrifugal forces induced by the curvature of the boundary layer (Taylor–Görtler instability). These gave rise to streamwise-oriented counter-rotating vortices or mushroom-shaped coherent structures as K approached the Kh values theoretically predicted by Hall (1984). Further increases in K for a given β led first to complex interactions between the coherent structures and then to chaotic motion. The mapping of the observations led to the delineation of four states of flow in the (K, β)-plane: stable, marginal, unstable, and chaotic.


2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harley McAdams ◽  
Lucille Shapiro ◽  
Mark Horowitz ◽  
Gary Andersen ◽  
Kenneth Downing ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 6411-6424 ◽  
Author(s):  
You Li ◽  
Li Wang ◽  
Efraín E Rivera-Serrano ◽  
Xian Chen ◽  
Stanley M Lemon

AbstractThe liver-specific microRNA, miR-122, is an essential host factor for replication of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). miR-122 stabilizes the positive-strand HCV RNA genome and promotes its synthesis by binding two sites (S1 and S2) near its 5′ end in association with Ago2. Ago2 is essential for both host factor activities, but whether other host proteins are involved is unknown. Using an unbiased quantitative proteomics screen, we identified the TNRC6 protein paralogs, TNRC6B and TNRC6C, as functionally important but redundant components of the miR-122/Ago2 host factor complex. Doubly depleting TNRC6B and TNRC6C proteins reduced HCV replication in human hepatoma cells, dampening miR-122 stimulation of viral RNA synthesis without reducing the stability or translational activity of the viral RNA. TNRC6B/C were required for optimal miR-122 host factor activity only when S1 was able to bind miR-122, and restricted replication when S1 was mutated and only S2 bound by miR-122. TNRC6B/C preferentially associated with S1, and TNRC6B/C depletion enhanced Ago2 association at S2. Collectively, these data suggest a model in which TNRC6B/C regulate the assembly of miR-122/Ago complexes on HCV RNA, preferentially directing miR-122/Ago2 to S1 while restricting its association with S2, thereby fine-tuning the spatial organization of miR-122/Ago2 complexes on the viral genome.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (11) ◽  
pp. 1513-1530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helene Ratner

This paper offers to extend existing discussions about the socio-material production of organizational space through the concept of topology. It does so by: (1) connecting the concept of topology to existing approaches to spatial organization that emphasize its socio-material and open-ended emergence; (2) theorizing organizational space as being in constant deformation across different topological shapes; and (3) exploring this in an empirical example that juxtaposes a management meeting with its interruption. The empirical material is collected through the method of shadowing managers at a Danish school. Theoretically, the paper argues that the shaping of space is contingent upon dis/continuities between (non)human agencies. The topological deformation of space testifies to the continuous but under-acknowledged work provided by (non)human agencies to both achieve and challenge the stability of organizational space. It further situates the boundary between inside and outside as a transient condition. This renders spatial matters such as scale and size situational achievements. Topology thus implies that we cannot in advance scale organization into micro and macro spatialities, and further, foregrounds the inherent dis/organization of space.


1999 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shalini Gera ◽  
Lou Byerly

Ca2+ channel inactivation in the neurons of the freshwater snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, was studied using patch-clamp techniques. In the presence of a high concentration of intracellular Ca2+ buffer (5 mM EGTA), the inactivation of these Ca2+ channels is entirely voltage dependent; it is not influenced by the identity of the permeant divalent ions or the amount of extracellular Ca2+ influx, or reduced by higher levels of intracellular Ca2+ buffering. Inactivation measured under these conditions, despite being independent of Ca2+ influx, has a bell-shaped voltage dependence, which has often been considered a hallmark of Ca2+-dependent inactivation. Ca2+-dependent inactivation does occur in Lymnaea neurons, when the concentration of the intracellular Ca2+ buffer is lowered to 0.1 mM EGTA. However, the magnitude of Ca2+-dependent inactivation does not increase linearly with Ca2+ influx, but saturates for relatively small amounts of Ca2+ influx. Recovery from inactivation at negative potentials is biexponential and has the same time constants in the presence of different intracellular concentrations of EGTA. However, the amplitude of the slow component is selectively enhanced by a decrease in intracellular EGTA, thus slowing the overall rate of recovery. The ability of 5 mM EGTA to completely suppress Ca2+-dependent inactivation suggests that the Ca2+ binding site is at some distance from the channel protein itself. No evidence was found of a role for serine/threonine phosphorylation in Ca2+ channel inactivation. Cytochalasin B, a microfilament disrupter, was found to greatly enhance the amount of Ca2+ channel inactivation, but the involvement of actin filaments in this effect of cytochalasin B on Ca2+ channel inactivation could not be verified using other pharmacological compounds. Thus, the mechanism of Ca2+-dependent inactivation in these neurons remains unknown, but appears to differ from those proposed for mammalian L-type Ca2+ channels.


1989 ◽  
Vol 257 (2) ◽  
pp. C315-C322 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Barnea ◽  
D. E. Hartter ◽  
G. Cho

We have previously characterized two saturable, ligand-dependent processes for 67Cu uptake by hypothalamic slices: a high- and low-affinity process (22). In this study, we wished to ascertain if veratridine, a secretagogue that mimics a physiological release process, stimulates the release of newly taken up 67Cu and whether uptake of 67Cu into the releasable pool of copper is dependent on the process of 67Cu uptake. Hypothalamic or caudate slices from male rats were loaded for 30 min with 67Cu complexed to histidine (His) under conditions favoring high- or low-affinity uptake. First, we assessed the stability of the newly taken up 67Cu and found that, regardless of the mode of 67Cu entry into the tissue, greater than or equal to 85% of the 67Cu is retained in tissues incubated for 3 h in 67Cu-free buffer. Moreover, the 67Cu taken up by the high-affinity process was not displaced by 15-fold molar excess of nonradiolabeled Cu2+, histidine, albumin, or Zn2+, and only 20-30% of the 67Cu taken up by the low-affinity process was displaced by 10-fold excess Cu2+ or albumin. Next, we assessed veratridine stimulation of 67Cu release and found that 67Cu release occurred only from tissues loaded with the high- but not with the low-affinity process. This effect of veratridine was calcium dependent and was blocked by Tetrodotoxin, a specific blocker of the voltage-sensitive Na+ channel. In addition, we confirmed our earlier observation that a depolarizing concentration of K+ stimulates 67Cu release.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


2018 ◽  
Vol 196 ◽  
pp. 03016
Author(s):  
Karol Brzeziński ◽  
Tomasz Rybicki ◽  
Kazimierz Józefiak

The subject of this paper is analysis of the influence of horizontal forces estimated on the basis of Eurocode on the stability of an exemplary railway embankment located in the horizontal curve. The work begins with an overview of the methods for determining the earthworks stability. The methods are presented along with a reference to the recommendations contained in Eurocode 7. On the basis of the Eurocode, the loads acting on the analyzed embankment are presented together. In addition to the standard vertical interactions (from the rolling stock, the weight of the track structure and ground), the calculations also take into account horizontal forces caused by: wind forces on rolling stock, centrifugal forces and nosing force of the rolling stock as well as thermal stresses in the rails. Next, there are 15 load combinations calculated according to the Eurocode guidelines. At the end of the work the values of safety factors of the embankment obtained by shear strength reduction method are presented. The obtained results show a significant influence of horizontal forces calculated on the basis of the Eurocode on the stability of the railway embankment analyzed in the work.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (22) ◽  
pp. 3480-3489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Tulodziecka ◽  
Barbara B. Diaz-Rohrer ◽  
Madeline M. Farley ◽  
Robin B. Chan ◽  
Gilbert Di Paolo ◽  
...  

Neuronal synapses are the fundamental units of neural signal transduction and must maintain exquisite signal fidelity while also accommodating the plasticity that underlies learning and development. To achieve these goals, the molecular composition and spatial organization of synaptic terminals must be tightly regulated; however, little is known about the regulation of lipid composition and organization in synaptic membranes. Here we quantify the comprehensive lipidome of rat synaptic membranes during postnatal development and observe dramatic developmental lipidomic remodeling during the first 60 postnatal days, including progressive accumulation of cholesterol, plasmalogens, and sphingolipids. Further analysis of membranes associated with isolated postsynaptic densities (PSDs) suggests the PSD-associated postsynaptic plasma membrane (PSD-PM) as one specific location of synaptic remodeling. We analyze the biophysical consequences of developmental remodeling in reconstituted synaptic membranes and observe remarkably stable microdomains, with the stability of domains increasing with developmental age. We rationalize the developmental accumulation of microdomain-forming lipids in synapses by proposing a mechanism by which palmitoylation of the immobilized scaffold protein PSD-95 nucleates domains at the postsynaptic plasma membrane. These results reveal developmental changes in lipid composition and palmitoylation that facilitate the formation of postsynaptic membrane microdomains, which may serve key roles in the function of the neuronal synapse.


The mushroom bodies of the bee are paired neuropils in the dorsal part of the brain. Each is composed of the arborizations of over 17 x 10 4 small interneurons of similar architecture called Kenyon cells. Golgi staining demonstrates that these neurons can be divided into five groups distinguished on the basis of their dendritic specializations and geometry. The mushroom body neuropils each consist of a pair of cup-shaped structures, the calyces, connected by two short fused stalks, the pedunculus, to two lobes, the α- and β-lobes. Each calyx is formed from three concentric neuropil zones, the basal ring, the collar and the lip. The calyces are organized in a polar fashion; within the calyces each of the five categories of Kenyon cell has a distribution limited to particular polar contours. The dendritic volumes of neighbouring Kenyon cells arborizing within each individual contour are greatly overlapped. Fibres from groups of neighbouring cells within a calycal contour are gathered into bundles that project into the pedunculus, each fibre dividing to enter both the the α- and β-lobes. The pedunculus and the lobes are conspicuously layered. Kenyon cells with neighbouring dendritic fields within the same calycal contour occupy a single layer in the pedunculus and lobes. Thus the two- polar organization of the calyces is transformed into a Cartesian map within the pedunculus, which continues into the α- and β-lobes. The calyx receives input fibres from both the antennal lobes and the optic neuropils. The branching patterns of these cells reflect the polar organization of the calyces as their terminals are restricted to one or more of the three gross compartments of the calycal neuropil. The course of these tracts and the morphologies of the fibres that they contain are described. Cells considered to represent outputs from the mushroom bodies arborize in the pedunculus and α- and β-lobes. Generally the arborizations of the output neurons reflect the layered organization of these neuropils. Fibres from the two lobes run to the anterior median and lateral protocerebral neuropil, and the anterior optic tubercle. Additionally there is an extensive network of feedback interneurons that inter- connect the α- and β-lobes with the ipsi- and contralateral calyces. Many individual neurons have branches in both the α- and β-lobes and in the pedunculus. The pathways and geometries of the fibres subserving the two lobes are described. The hypothesis of Vowles (1955) that the individual lobes represent a separation of sensory and motor output areas is shown to be incorrect. The anatomy of the bee’s mushroom bodies suggests that they process second-order antennal and fourth- and higher-order visual information. The feedback pathways are discussed as possible means of creating long-lasting after-effects which may be important in complex timing processes and possibly the formation of short-term memory.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document