• Title/Summary/Keyword: Cellular morphology

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Genome wide identification of Staufen2-bound mRNAs in embryonic rat brains

  • Maher-Laporte, Marjolaine;DesGroseillers, Luc
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.43 no.5
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    • pp.344-348
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    • 2010
  • Messenger ribonucleoprotein particles (mRNPs) are used to transport mRNAs along neuronal dendrites to their site of translation. Staufen2 is an mRNA-binding protein expressed in the cell bodies and cellular processes of different brain cells. It is notably involved in the transport of dendritic mRNAs along microtubules. Its knockdown expression was shown to change spine morphology and impair synaptic functions. However, the identity of Staufen2-bound mRNAs in brain cells is still completely unknown. As a mean to identify these mRNAs, we immunoprecipitated Staufen2-containing mRNPs from embryonic rat brains and used a genome wide approach to identify Staufen2-associated mRNAs. The genome wide approach identified 1780 mRNAs in Staufen2-containing mRNPs that code for proteins involved in cellular processes such as post-translational protein modifications, RNA metabolism, intracellular transport and translation. These results represent an additional and important step in the characterization of Staufen2- mediated neuronal functions in rat brains.

The First Record of a Marriage Cone, Conus sponsalis (Conidae: Gastropoda) from Korea

  • Lee, Sang-Hwa;Park, Joong-Ki
    • Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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    • v.30 no.1
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    • pp.55-57
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    • 2014
  • The Conus Linnaeus, 1758 is a large genus of marine gastropod mollusks belonging to the family Conidae. The Conus species are mostly distributed in the tropical waters of the world, and they are especially abundant in the Indo-West Pacific region. To date, more than 600 species, most of which are predatory species, have been named worldwide in this genus and only six species have been recorded in the Korean waters. Conus sponsalis Hwass in Brugui$\grave{e}$re, 1792 was collected from Jeju Island and identified as a new Korean record. In this study, we report a description of the shell morphology of the species.

A Gene of Neurospora crassa that Encodes a Protein Containing TPR Motifs

  • Lee Bheong-Uk
    • Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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    • 2003.05a
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    • pp.51-54
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    • 2003
  • Analysis of the Neurospora crassa genome data reveals at least 14 proteins that contain tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) motifs. One of them shows over $60\%$ homology with SSN6 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a global repressor that mediates repression of genes involved in various cellular processes. Sequence analysis of its cDNA shows that it encodes a putative 102kDa protein. Mutant strains generated by RIP (repeat induced point mutation) process show four distinctive patterns of vegetative growth at various rates. They are male-fertile, yet all female-sterile and produced little or no perithecium. These results indicate that this gene is pleiotropic and involved in several cellular processes of vegetative growth, conidiation and sexual cycle. It is designated rcm-1(regulation of conidiation and morphology).

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Cellular and Molecular Responses of a Filamentous Fungus Neurospora Crassa to Non-thermal Plasma at Atmospheric Pressure

  • Park, Gyung-Soon;Ryu, Young-Hyo;Hong, Young-June;Uhm, Han-Sup;Choi, Eun-H.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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    • 2012.02a
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    • pp.476-476
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    • 2012
  • Although plasma is an efficient means of microbial sterilization, mechanism of plasma effect on microorganisms still needs to be clarified. In addition, a limited number of studies are available on eukaryotic microorganisms such as yeast and fungi in relation to plasma application. Thus, we investigated cellular and molecular aspects of plasma effects on a filamentous fungus, Neurospora crassa by making use of argon plasma jet at atmospheric pressure. The viability and cell morphology of N. crassa spores exposed to plasma were both significantly reduced depending on the exposure time when treated in water. The intracellular genomic DNA content was dramatically reduced in fungal tissues after a plasma treatment and the transcription factor tah-3 was found to be required for fungal tolerance to a harsh plasma environment.

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Signaling Pathways Controlling Microglia Chemotaxis

  • Fan, Yang;Xie, Lirui;Chung, Chang Y.
    • Molecules and Cells
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    • v.40 no.3
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    • pp.163-168
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    • 2017
  • Microglia are the primary resident immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS). They are the first line of defense of the brain's innate immune response against infection, injury, and diseases. Microglia respond to extracellular signals and engulf unwanted neuronal debris by phagocytosis, thereby maintaining normal cellular homeostasis in the CNS. Pathological stimuli such as neuronal injury induce transformation and activation of resting microglia with ramified morphology into a motile amoeboid form and activated microglia chemotax toward lesion site. This review outlines the current research on microglial activation and chemotaxis.

Evidence for Taxonomic Status of Pachydictyon coriaceum (Holmes) Okamura (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae) Based on Morphology and Plastid Protein Coding rbcL, psaA, and psbA Gene Sequences

  • Hwang, Il-Ki;Kim, Hyung-Seop;Lee, Wook-Jae
    • ALGAE
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.175-190
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    • 2004
  • The morphological and molecular characteristics of Pachydictyon coriaceum (Holmes) Okamura (1899) are described. Plants are collected from Korea all year round and have maximum height from August to September. The monthly variability of thallus growth is in the way with that of the seawater temperature. Two types of thallus structures, thick cortical layer tallus type and thin cortical cell layer type, are distinguished according to growing seasons. The habit of Korean plants is also classified into two thallus types, slender type and wide type, based on the length and the width of internodes, but this distinction between two types is not supported by either anatomical or molecular characteristics. P. coriaceum shares typical morphology in branching pattern and morphogenetic processes with the other species of Dictyota: 1) multi-cellular cortical and medullar layer in the partial of thallus, 2) same development of thallus from apical meristem cell, and 3) sub-lineage within Dictyota species lineage in rbcL, psaA and psbA gene sequences analyses. These characteristics lead to propose the new combination of Dictyota coriacea (Homes) I.K. Hwang, H.S. Kim et W.J. Lee, comb. nov.

Characteristics of Morphological and Physiological Changes during the Autolysis Process of Saccharomyces cerevisiae FX-2

  • Li, Xiao;Shi, Xiaodan;Zou, Man;Luo, Yudi;Tan, Yali;Wu, Yexu;Chen, Lin;Li, Pei
    • Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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    • v.43 no.3
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    • pp.249-258
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    • 2015
  • In this paper, the autolysis process of Saccharomyces cerevisiae FX-2 (S. cerevisiae FX-2) via, a variety of endogenous enzyme, was investigated systematically by analyzing changes in physicochemical parameters in autolysate, surface morphology and the internal structure of the yeast cells. As an explicit conclusion, the arisen autolysis depended on the pH and the optimal pH was found to be 5.5. Based on the experimental data and the characteristics of mycelia morphology, a hypothesis is put forward that simple proteins in yeast vacuolar are firstly degraded for utilization, and then more membrane-bound proteins are hydrolyzed to release hydrolytic enzymes, which arouse an enzymatic reaction to induce the collapse of the cell wall into the cytoplasm.

The effects of Pongamia pinnata on osteogenic differentiation and mineralization of human stem cells derived from the gingiva

  • Lee, Hyunjin;Uddin, Md. Salah;Kim, Yong-In;Choi, Sangho;Park, Jun-Beom
    • The Journal of Korean Medicine
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    • v.38 no.4
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    • pp.1-10
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    • 2017
  • Objectives: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of the extract of Pongamia pinnata on the morphology, viability, and differentiation potential of human stem cells derived from the gingiva. Methods: Stem cells obtained from gingivae were cultured in an osteogenic medium in the presence of methanol extract of Pongamia pinnata (PPT) at concentrations ranging from 0.001 to 1%. Evaluations of cell morphology and cellular viability were done at Day 1. Alkaline phosphatase activity assays and Alizarin red S staining were performed to evaluate the osteogenic differentiation of stem cells. Results: The morphology of stem cells in the presence of PPT at final concentrations of 0%, 0.001%, 0.01%, 0.1%, and 1% did not produce any noticeable changes when compared with the untreated control group. Application of PPT produced a significant increase in alkaline phosphatase activity when compared to the control group. The results of the Alizarin Red S staining showed a significant increase of absorbance with the 0.001% group. Conclusions: Based on these findings, it was concluded that PPT could produce beneficial effects on mesenchymal stem cells with enhanced osteogenic differentiation.

Comparison of cytotoxicities and wound healing effects of diquafosol tetrasodium and hyaluronic acid on human corneal epithelial cells

  • Lee, Jong Heon;Lee, Jong Soo;Kim, Sujin;Lee, Ji Eun
    • The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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    • v.21 no.2
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    • pp.189-195
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    • 2017
  • This study aimed to compare the cellular toxicities of three clinically used dry eye treatments; 3% diquafosol tetrasodium and hyaluronic acid at 0.3 and 0.18%. A methyl thiazolyltetrazoiun (MTT)-based calorimetric assay was used to assess cellular proliferation and a lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage assay to assess cytotoxicity, using Human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs) exposed to 3% diquafosol tetrasodium, 0.3% hyaluronic acid (HA), or 0.18% HA or 1, 6 or 24 h. Cellular morphology was evaluated by inverted phase-contrast light microscopy and electron microscopy, and wound widths were measured 24 h after confluent HCECs were scratched. Diquafosol had a significant, time-dependent, inhibitory effect on HCEC proliferation and cytotoxicity. HCECs treated with diquafosol detached more from the bottoms of dishes and damaged cells showed degenerative changes, such as, reduced numbers of microvilli, vacuole formation, and chromatin of the nuclear remnant condensed along the nuclear periphery. All significantly stimulated reepithelialization of HCECs scratched, which were less observed in diquafosol. Therefore, epithelial toxicity should be considered after long-term usage of diquafosol and in overdose cases, especially in dry eye patients with pre-existing punctated epithelial erosion.

A Study on the Effect of Porous CaCO3 on Micro-cellular Plastics as an Additive for Nucleation (다공성 $CaCO_{3}$가 발포핵제로서 초미세 발포에 미치는 영향)

  • Lee, Dong-Wook;Cha, Sung-Woon;Yoon, Jae-Dong
    • Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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    • 2004.11a
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    • pp.991-996
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    • 2004
  • Plastics are widely used in industry, because they are light, easily manufactured, and have high specific strength. And many researches to increase the strengths and to reduce the price are being conducted at now. One of these researches is concerning to additives. Foaming techniques are used to endow insulation properties, to improve specific strength, or reduce the material cost. Due to their unique properties, foamed plastics are applied to refrigerator, pipe, and insulators. Micro-cellular foaming is the latest foaming technique that was invented at 1980 in MIT. It is known that many tiny small cells are generated in the polymer matrices and micro-cellular foamed plastics show relatively high specific strength. We investigated the role of CaCO3 which is one of the most widely used additives in plastics industry as an additive for nucleation in view of cell morphology. CaCO3 used in this paper was treated to increase the dispersibility and to lower the density, so it has many pores at his body. Two experiments were conducted, in order to check the role of an additive for nucleation. One is compound-ability and the other one is role of nucleation agents.

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