Multi-Institutional, Multidisciplinary Study of the Impact of Course-Based Research Experiences.

Numerous national reports have called for reforming laboratory courses so that all students experience the research process. In response, many course-based research experiences (CREs) have been developed and implemented. Research on the impact of these CREs suggests that student benefits can be similar to those of traditional apprentice-model research experiences.

Sperm superoxide dismutase is associated with bull fertility.

Decreasing mammalian fertility and sperm quality have created an urgent need to find effective methods to distinguish non-viable from viable fertilising spermatozoa. The aims of the present study were to evaluate expression levels of ?-tubulin 2C (TUBB2C), heat shock protein 10 (HSP10), hexokinase 1 (HXK1) and superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) in spermatozoa from Holstein bulls with varying fertility using western blotting and to analyse the biological networks of these key sperm proteins using a bioinformatics software (Metacore; Thomson-Reuters, Philadelphia, PA, USA). The rationales behind this study were that the sperm proteins play crucial roles in fertilisation and early embryonic development in mammals and ascertaining the biological networks of the proteins helps us better understand sperm physiology and early mammalian development.

Oxidative stress contributes to sex differences in blood pressure in adult growth-restricted offspring.

Numerous experimental studies suggest that oxidative stress contributes to the pathophysiology of hypertension and, importantly, that oxidative stress plays a more definitive role in mediating hypertension in males than in females. Intrauterine growth restriction induced by reduced uterine perfusion initiated at day 14 of gestation in the rat programs hypertension in adult male growth-restricted offspring; yet, female growth-restricted offspring are normotensive. The mechanisms mediating sex differences in blood pressure in adult growth-restricted offspring are not clear.

Chronic aminoguanidine attenuates renal dysfunction and injury in aging rats.

We have previously shown that aging is associated with increased lipid peroxidation, reductions in renal function, and increased glomerular sclerosis. The mechanism(s) responsible for these age-related changes are not clear. The purpose of the present studies was to determine if there was an increase in inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) with aging, and if so, whether inhibition of iNOS would prevent aging injury by preventing free radical-mediated lipid peroxidation.

Gender differences in the renal nitric oxide (NO) system: dissociation between expression of endothelial NO synthase and renal hemodynamic response to NO synthase inhibition.

Many studies have shown that nitric oxide (NO) production is higher in the systemic vasculature of females than males and is stimulated during pregnancy, a high estrogen state. The present study was performed in rats to determine whether females had a greater expression of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) in kidneys than did males; whether there were gender differences in the excretion of NO metabolites, nitrate/nitrite; and whether there were gender differences in the renal hemodynamic response to NO synthase inhibition. The renal levels of eNOS mRNA (as measured by ribonuclease protection assays) and protein (as measured by Western blot) were 80% higher in kidneys from females than from males (P < .

Angiotensin II stimulates synthesis of endothelial nitric oxide synthase.

Previous studies have suggested that NO may play an important role in protecting the renal vessels from angiotensin II (ANGII)-mediated vasoconstriction. One possible mechanism for this interaction is that ANGII could stimulate NO production in the kidney by increasing endothelial NO synthase (NOS III). The present studies were performed in rats to determine whether acute or chronic elevations in ANGII are associated with enhanced renal NOS III mRNA or protein synthesis.

Interaction of tubulin and microtubule proteins with vanadate oligomers.

Microtubule assembly is known to be regulated by the phosphorylation of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs), and is thus sensitive to phosphatase inhibitors. We have investigated the direct interaction between phosphatase inhibitors (vanadate, sodium fluoride, and okadaic acid) and microtubule proteins. Vanadate self-assembles into oligomers, primarily dimer, tetramer, and decamer in 0.

Multiple sites for subtilisin cleavage of tubulin: effects of divalent cations.

Limited digestion of pig brain GDP-tubulin by subtilisin was carried out in the presence of Mg2+, Mn2+, Ca2+, Zn2+, or Be2+. Isoelectric focusing, followed by SDS-PAGE, revealed characteristic divalent cation-dependent changes in the alpha- and beta-tubulin cleavage patterns. Previous studies revealed that the beta-cleavage pattern is different for heterodimers and microtubules [Lobert and Correia, 1992: Arch.

Myelin protein expression in dissociated superior cervical ganglia and dorsal root ganglia cultures.

Schwann cells of the adult rat superior cervical ganglia (SCG) synthesize negligible levels of the major myelin glycoprotein, P0, in vivo. This suggests that the sympathetic axons of the SCG are deficient in one of more components involved in the regulation of myelin protein expression. Here we have compared the ability of neurites from neonatal rat SCG and embryonic rat dorsal root ganglia (DRG) to induce Schwann cell expression of myelin proteins after growth in culture using a serum-free medium.