Cytoskeleton and Nucleotide Signaling in Glioma C6 Cells.

This chapter describes signaling pathways, stimulated by the P2Y nucleotide receptor (P2YR), that regulate cellular processes dependent on actin cytoskeleton dynamics in glioma C6 cells. P2YR coupled with G-proteins, in response to ATP or UTP, regulates the level of iphosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP) which modulates a variety of actin binding proteins and is involved in calcium response and activates Rac1 and RhoA proteins. The RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway plays an important role in contractile force generation needed for the assembly of stress fibers, focal adhesions and for tail retraction during cell migration.

The role of oxidative stress in female infertility and in vitro fertilization.

Infertility problem involves many couples of reproductive age. It has been estimated that in Poland 0.7-1.

[Watching dance of the molecules - CARS microscopy].

CARS (Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering) microscopy is an imaging method for living cells visualization as well as for food or cosmetics material analysis without the need for staining. The near infrared laser source generates the CARS signal - the characteristic intrinsic vibrational contrast of the molecules in a sample which is no longer caused by staining, but by the molecules themselves. It provides the benefit of a non-toxic, non-destructive and almost noninvasive method for sample imaging.

HAX-1: a novel p-body protein.

HAX-1, a multifunctional protein involved in the regulation of apoptosis, cell migration, and calcium homeostasis, binds the 3' untranslated region motifs of specific transcripts. This suggests that HAX-1 plays a role in post-transcriptional regulation, at the level of mRNA stability/transport or translation. In this study, we analyze in detail HAX-1 colocalization with processing bodies (P-bodies) and its dependence on mRNA availability.

[Nucleotide receptors and actin cytoskeleton dynamics].

Signaling cascades evoked by P2Y2 receptor plays an important role in the phenomena dependent on the actin cytoskeleton dynamics endocy-tosis, cell division, adhesion, intracellular transport and migration. P2Y2R coupled with G proteins, in response to ATP or UTP activates Rac1 and RhoA proteins important factors in actin cytoskeletal reorganization and regulates the level of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) that binds directly to a variety of actin regulatory proteins and modulates their function. The P2Y2 nucleotide receptor contains the integrin-binding domain enables it to interact selectively with α(v)β3 and α(v)β5 integrins and is required for G0-mediated Rac1 activation.