Two novel genes are differentially expressed during early germination of the male gametophyte of Nicotiana tabacum.

Two cDNAs were cloned from tobacco pollen by differential display of mRNAs from dry and germinated pollen. Expression analysis revealed that transcript levels of the two corresponding genes were high during pollen maturation, but differed significantly during early pollen germination. One of the cDNAs, designated Arpl1;1, codes for a new member of the auxin-repressed/dormancy-associated protein multigene family.

Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced cardiovascular failure.

The present study aimed to determine the relevance of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)-derived prostanoids for the adverse effects of lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) on cardiovascular function. For this goal, male Sprague-Dawley rats received a single intravenous dose of LPS (10 mg/kg) and were treated with different cyclooxygenase inhibitors. Injection of LPS caused a marked decrease of systolic arterial pressure, from 128 to 79 mm Hg, and a concomitant increase of heart rate, from 380 to 530 minutes(-1).

Molecular mechanisms of phosphate transport in plants.

Membrane-spanning transport proteins are responsible for the selective passage of most mineral nutrients and metabolites across cellular and intracellular membranes. This review's focus is on summarising the current state of research covering the molecular regulation and biochemical mechanisms involved in the transport of phosphorus, an often growth-limiting nutrient, in vascular plants. Physiological data illustrating the tight control of Pi homeostasis on the cellular as well as on the organism's level are discussed together with the recent results on molecular transport mechanisms.

Effect of three different doses of urapidil on blood glucose concentrations in the streptozotocin diabetic rat.

Background And Objective: Diabetes mellitus associated with hypertension often causes perioperative complications. The alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonist/5-hydroxytryptamine-1A receptor agonist urapidil is an approved drug used in hypertension and hypertensive emergencies. 5-Hydroxytryptamine-1A (5-HT1A) receptor agonists impair glucose metabolism.

Endothelin-receptor gene-expression in rat endotoxemia.

Objective: The reduced vascular response to endothelin-1 has focused interest onto the regulation of the endothelin-receptor subtypes ET(A) and ET(B) during severe sepsis.

Design And Setting: Prospective animal trial followed by a controlled cell culture study in the laboratory of the Department of Anesthesiology.

Subjects: Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200-250 g, aortic vascular smooth muscle cell line A7r5.

Cytokine-mediated downregulation of vasopressin V(1A) receptors during acute endotoxemia in rats.

The reduced pressure response to vasopressin during acute sepsis has directed our interest to the regulation of vasopressin V(1A) receptors. Rats were injected with lipopolysaccharide for induction of experimental gram-negative sepsis. V(1A) receptor gene expression was downregulated in the liver, lung, kidney, and heart during endotoxemia.

The expression of an extensin-like protein correlates with cellular tip growth in tomato.

Extensins are abundant proteins presumed to determine physical characteristics of the plant cell wall. We have cloned a cDNA encoding LeExt1 from a tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) root hair cDNA library.

Effect of roxithromycin on the pharmacokinetics of lovastatin in volunteers.

Objective: To investigate the influence of concomitant administration of roxithromycin on the plasma pharmacokinetics of lovastatin.

Methods: In an open, randomized, crossover study, 12 healthy volunteers received 80 mg lovastatin orally either alone or concomitantly with 300 mg roxithromycin after 5-day pretreatment with roxithromycin 300 mg daily. Plasma concentrations of lovastatin (lactone and acid) were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography, and the pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated.

Differential effects of short affinity tags on the crystallization of Pyrococcus furiosus maltodextrin-binding protein.

Pyrococcus furiosus maltodextrin-binding protein readily forms large orthorhombic crystals that diffract to high resolution. This protein was used as a model system to investigate the influence of five short affinity tags (His(6), Arg(5), Strep tag II, FLAG tag and the biotin acceptor peptide) on the formation of protein crystals and their ability to diffract X-rays. The results indicate that the amino-acid sequence of the tag can have a profound effect on both of these parameters.

High prevalence of Yersinia enterocolitica 4:O3 on pig offal in southern Germany: a slaughtering technique problem.

Prevalence and contamination routes of pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica were studied in Southern Germany. Tonsil and faeces samples of 50 fattening pigs, 140 offal samples and 120 minced meat samples were examined. Pig and offal samples were collected from a slaughterhouse approved by the European Union, and minced meat samples from two large meat factories.

Pharmacokinetics of therapeutic doses of tropisetron in healthy volunteers.

Aims: To establish the bioavailability of tropisetron (5 mg) administered orally as capsule compared with 2 mg given intravenously.

Methods: Using a randomized crossover design, 18 healthy volunteers received a single oral dose of tropisetron (5 mg) and an intravenous bolus of tropisetron (2 mg) separated by a wash-out period of 1 week. Plasma concentrations of tropisetron were determined by h.

A phosphate transporter expressed in arbuscule-containing cells in potato.

Arbuscular mycorrhizas are the most common non-pathogenic symbioses in the roots of plants. It is generally assumed that this symbiosis facilitated the colonization of land by plants. In arbuscular mycorrhizas, fungal hyphae often extend between the root cells and tuft-like branched structures (arbuscules) form within the cell lumina that act as the functional interface for nutrient exchange.

Constraining isocurvature perturbations with cosmic microwave background polarization.

The role of cosmic microwave background polarization data in constraining the presence of primordial isocurvature modes is examined. While MAP will be unable to simultaneously constrain isocurvature modes and cosmological parameters, PLANCK will set strong limits on isocurvature modes. If one allows isocurvature modes, the recently obtained BOOMERANG measurement of the curvature of the Universe fails.

Renocortical expression of renin and of cyclooxygenase-2 in response to angiotensin II AT1 receptor blockade is closely coordinated but not causally linked.

Based on recent evidence that renin gene and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in the rat kidney cortex increase in parallel under a variety of conditions, this study aimed to characterize the causal linkage between COX-2 and renin expression. Therefore, we semi-quantitated renocortical renin and COX-2 gene expression when the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) was inhibited by the angiotensin II (Ang II) AT1 receptor antagonist candesartan (15 mg/kg per day) and when COX-2 activity was blocked by celecoxib (20 mg/kg twice a day) in three rat strains (Sprague-Dawley, WKY and SHR) at ages of 5, 9 and 15 weeks. We observed that candesartan increased renin mRNA in all rats at all ages, the amplitude of stimulation being inversely related to age.

Nitric oxide-dependent down-regulation of angiotensin II type 2 receptors during experimental sepsis.

Objective: The systemic renin-angiotensin system is highly activated during septic shock. This has focused interest in regulation of the adrenal angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2) as the target thought to mediate angiotensin II-induced adrenal catecholamine release during experimental sepsis in vivo. In addition, the influence of typical endogenous mediators of sepsis, such as proinflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide, on AT2 receptor expression should be investigated in vitro.

Downregulation of angiotensin II type 1 receptors during sepsis.

Our study aimed to characterize the mechanisms underlying the attenuated cardiovascular responsiveness toward the renin-angiotensin system during sepsis. For this purpose, we determined the effects of experimental Gram-negative and Gram-positive sepsis in rats. We found that sepsis led to a ubiquitous upregulation of NO synthase isoform II expression and to pronounced hypotension.

Pharmacokinetics of levofloxacin during continuous veno-venous hemofiltration.

Objective: To study the effect of continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVHF) on the pharmacokinetics of levofloxacin in critically ill patients with acute renal failure.

Design: Open-label study.

Setting: Anesthesiology ICU, University Hospital of Regensburg.

Determination of opipramol in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with photometric detection using a cyanopropyl column.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of opipramol in human plasma. Opipramol was extracted into tert.-butylmethyl ether, separated on a cyanopropyl silica column and detected at 254 nm.

The effect of urapidil and ramipril on hyperglycemia in streptozotocin diabetic rats.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonists improve glucose disposal in diabetes mellitus. We compared the effect of the antihypertensive hybrid drug urapidil [alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonist serotonin 1A (5-hydroxytryptamine 1A, 5-HT1A) receptor agonist] on hyperglycemia in streptozotocin diabetic rats with the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor ramipril. 5-HT1A receptor agonists induce hyperglycemia.

Pht2;1 encodes a low-affinity phosphate transporter from Arabidopsis.

An Arabidopsis genomic sequence was recently shown to share similarity with bacterial and eukaryotic phosphate (Pi) transporters. We have cloned the corresponding cDNA, which we named Pht2;1, and subsequently performed gene expression studies and functional analysis of the protein product. The cDNA encodes a 61-kD protein with a putative topology of 12 transmembrane (TM) domains interrupted by a large hydrophilic loop between TM8 and TM9.

Functional analysis and cell-specific expression of a phosphate transporter from tomato.

For a better understanding of the molecular and biochemical processes involved in orthophosphate (Pi) uptake at the root/soil interface, we cloned a Pi-transporter c DNA (LePT1) from a root air-specific cDNA library of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). The corresponding protein belongs to the growing family of ion transporters with twelve putative transmembrane domains.

Two genes encoding extension-like proteins are predominantly expressed in tomato root hair cells.

A differential screen of a tomato root hair cDNA library resulted in the cloning of two cDNAs, Dif10 and Dif54, whose corresponding genes are preferentially expressed in root hair cells as determined by analysis of mRNA levels in various tomato organs. Transcript levels showed no increase in leaves subjected to hormonal and environmental stress treatments. Sequence analysis of the cDNAs revealed high similarity to members of the extension family.

Nitric oxide synthase isoform III gene expression in rat liver is up-regulated by lipopolysaccharide and lipoteichoic acid.

This study was done to investigate the influence of Gram-negative and Gram-positive sepsis on the expression of the three isoforms of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) gene in rat liver and kidney. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 10 mg/kg i.v.

Effects of hypoxia on growth factor expression in the rat kidney in vivo.

There is accumulating evidence from in vitro studies suggesting that the genes of endothelin-1, PDGF, and VEGF are, like the erythropoietin gene, regulated by oxygen tension and by divalent cations. Hypoxia-induced stimulation of, such as endothelin-1, PDGF or VEGF might be involved in the pathogenesis of acute or chronic renal failure, and in renal "inflammatory" diseases (glomerulonephritis, vasculitis, allograft rejection). Hypoxia (8% O2) for six hours caused a 55-fold/1.