Methods to identify and distinguish the effects of weathering and landslides on sediment granulometry.

Urbanization has resulted in the widespread development of built-up areas, often without considering the local geology and geomorphology. To improve risk assessments related to landslides, it is essential to determine the physical and chemical properties of sediments. The aim of this study is to exemplify an already mobilized and reworked layer based on granulometric properties of the sediments and characterize the chemical and physical properties which have changed during or after the mass movement.

3,5,3'-Triiodo-L-Thyronine Regulates Actin Cytoskeleton Dynamic in The Differentiated PC-12 Cells during Hypoxia through An αvβ3 Integrin.

Objective: Thyroid hormones are involved in the pathogenesis of various neurological disorders. Ischemia/hypoxia that induces rigidity of the actin filaments, which initiates neurodegeneration and reduces synaptic plasticity. We hypothesized that thyroid hormones via alpha-v-beta-3 (αvβ3) integrin could regulate the actin filament rearrangement during hypoxia and increase neuronal cell viability.

Prolonged treatment with the proteasome inhibitor MG-132 induces apoptosis in PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells.

Rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells were treated with the proteasome inhibitor MG-132 and morphological changes were recorded. Initially, neuronal differentiation was induced but after 24 h signs of morphological deterioration became apparent. We performed nuclear staining, flow cytometry and WST-1 assay then analyzed signal transduction pathways involving Akt, p38 MAPK (Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase), JNK (c-Jun N-terminal Kinase), c-Jun and caspase-3.

Pharmaceuticals in water and sediment of small streams under the pressure of urbanization: Concentrations, interactions, and risks.

Small streams are crucial but vulnerable elements of ecological networks. To better understand the occurrence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in streams, this study focused on the occurrence, distribution, and environmental risk of 111 PhACs and 7 trace elements based on a total of 141 water and sediment samples from small streams located in the urbanizing region of Budapest, Hungary. Eighty-one PhACs were detected in the aqueous phase, whereas sixty-two compounds were detected in the sediment.

Problem solving in the time of coronavirus pandemic.

Problem solving, multiple-choice question-based educational tools have been used for decades in molecular cell biology courses at the University of Pécs Medical School, Pécs, Hungary. A set of these tests was published in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education between 2002 and 2015. Such tests using an experimental approach help students to understand how living cells function.

Effects of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) on fish body and scale shape in natural waters.

Background: In recent years, there are growing concerns about pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in natural ecosystems. These compounds have been found in natural waters and in fish tissues worldwide. Regarding their growing distribution and abundance, it is becoming clear that traditionally used risk assessment methodologies and ecotoxicological studies have limitations in several respects.

Dataset of pharmaceuticals in the Danube and related drinking water wells in the Budapest region.

The present dataset provides data on the pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) concentrations measured in the Danube and the drinking water abstraction wells (DWAW) in the Budapest region. Grab samples were collected during five periods. One hundred and seven water samples from the Danube and ninety water samples from the relevant DWAWs were analyzed to quantify physical-chemical parameters, trace element concentrations, and one hundred and eleven PhACs, including pharmaceutical derivatives, illicit drugs, and alkaloids.

Occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the Danube and drinking water wells: Efficiency of riverbank filtration.

Surface waters are becoming increasingly contaminated by pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), which is a potential risk factor for drinking water quality owing to incomplete riverbank filtration. This study examined the efficiency of riverbank filtration with regard to 111 PhACs in a highly urbanized section of the river Danube. One hundred seven samples from the Danube were compared to 90 water samples from relevant drinking water abstraction wells (DWAW) during five sampling periods.

Partial p53-dependence of anisomycin-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells.

The bacterial antibiotic anisomycin is known to induce apoptosis by activating several mitogen-activated protein kinases and by inhibiting protein synthesis. In this study, the influence of p53 protein on the apoptosis-inducing effect of anisomycin was investigated. The effect of protein synthesis-inhibiting concentration of anisomycin on apoptotic events was analyzed using Western blot, DNA fragmentation, and cell viability assays in wild-type PC12 and in mutant p53 protein expressing p143p53PC12 cells.

Partial Protection of PC12 Cells from Cellular Stress by Low-Dose Sodium Nitroprusside Pre-treatment.

The PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cell line is an in vitro model system widely used for the investigation of intracellular signaling events contributing to neuronal differentiation and cell death. We found earlier that the nitric oxide donor compound sodium nitroprusside (SNP) induced apoptosis of PC12 cells if it was applied in high concentration (400 µM). Yoshioka et al.

Sensitivity of Human Malignant Melanoma Cell Lines to Newcastle Disease Virus.

Background/aim: Virotherapy may be a promising alternative to chemotherapy of malignant melanoma. In clinical trials using strains of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), only a fraction of patients with cancer responded to virotherapy. In the present study, we tried to find a correlation between the susceptibility of human melanoma cell lines to NDV and growth factor signaling pathways.

Problem-solving test: Southwestern blotting.

Terms to be familiar with before you start to solve the test: Southern blotting, Western blotting, restriction endonucleases, agarose gel electrophoresis, nitrocellulose filter, molecular hybridization, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, proto-oncogene, c-abl, Src-homology domains, tyrosine protein kinase, nuclear localization signal, cDNA, deletion mutants, expression plasmid, transfection, RNA polymerase II, promoter, Shine-Dalgarno sequence, polyadenylation element, affinity chromatography, Northern blotting, immunoprecipitation, sodium dodecylsulfate, autoradiography, tandem repeats.

The role of the p53 protein in nitrosative stress-induced apoptosis of PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells.

PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells are widely used to investigate signaling pathways. The p143p53PC12 cell line expresses a Val143Ala mutant p53 protein that is less capable of binding to the p53 consensus site in DNA than its wild-type counterpart. Nitric oxide (NO), depending on its concentration, is able to activate several signal transduction pathways.

Problem-solving test: DNA manipulation with alkaline phosphatase and polynucleotide kinase.

Terms to be familiar with before you start to solve the test: 3'- and 5'-ends of DNA fragments, plasmids, restriction endonucleases, agarose gel electrophoresis, linear and circular DNA, superhelical DNA, blunt and sticky ends, DNA ligase, nuclease, [γ-(32) P] ATP, and radioactive labeling. © 2014 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 42(4):348-350, 2014.

Overexpression of CREB protein protects from tunicamycin-induced apoptosis in various rat cell types.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress plays an essential role in unfolded protein response induced apoptosis contributing to several pathological conditions. Glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) plays a central role in several apoptotic signaling, including ER stress, as the active form of GSK-3β induces apoptosis. The phosphorylation of cAMP responsive element (CRE) binding protein (CREB) Ser-133 (S133) residue is the end-point of various signaling pathways, like growth factor signaling, while the Ser-129 (S129) residue is phosphorylated by GSK-3β.

Problem-solving test: transport of a viral protein in a cell-free system.

Terms to be familiar with before you start to solve the test: protein glycosylation, glycoprotein, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complex, mannose, oligosaccharide, free polysomes, cell fractionation, [(35) S]methionine; pulse labeling; nuclear fraction, mitochondrial fraction, microsomal fraction, cytosol, gel electrophoresis, autoradiography, trypsin, deoxycholate, detergent, sucrose density gradient, isopycnic gradient centrifugation.

Gene expression profiling in PC12 cells infected with an oncolytic Newcastle disease virus strain.

Although the oncolytic potential of natural, non-engineered Newcastle disease virus (NDV) isolates are well-known, cellular mechanisms determining NDV sensitivity of tumor cells are poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to look for gene expression changes in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells infected with an attenuated NDV strain that may be related to NDV susceptibility. PC12 cells were infected with the NDV strain MTH-68/H for 12h at a titer corresponding to the IC₅₀ value.

Problem-solving test: the mechanism of poliovirus-induced block of host protein synthesis in human cells.

Terms to be familiar with before you start to solve the test: translation/protein synthesis, 5'-cap, internal ribosome entry site, initiation of translation, [(35) S]methionine, SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, autoradiography, Western blotting, proteases.

Problem-solving test: E2F: a family of S phase regulating transcription factors.

Terms to be familiar with before you start to solve the test: transcription factors, gene induction, DNA synthesis, S phase, retinoblastoma, immunoprecipitation, radioactive labeling, oligonucleotide, enhancer element, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, autoradiography, gel retardation assay

Problem-solving test: conditional gene targeting using the Cre/loxP recombination system.

Terms to be familiar with before you start to solve the test: gene targeting, knock-out mutation, bacteriophage, complementary base-pairing, homologous recombination, deletion, transgenic organisms, promoter, polyadenylation element, transgene, DNA replication, RNA polymerase, Shine-Dalgarno sequence, restriction endonuclease, polymerase chain reaction, primer, transcription, SV40 virus, malignant transformation, spacer region, gene expression, agarose gel electrophoresis, ethidium bromide staining, Southern-blotting, probe, reporter gene.

The role of Src protein in the process formation of PC12 cells induced by the proteasome inhibitor MG-132.

The PC12 (rat pheochromocytoma) cell line is a popular model system to study neuronal differentiation. Upon prolonged nerve growth factor (NGF) exposure these tumor cells stop to divide, become polygonal, grow projections and start to look and behave like sympathetic neurons. Differentiation of PC12 cells can also be induced by peptidyl-aldehyde proteasome inhibitors, such as Z-Leu-Leu-Leu-al (also known as MG-132) or via infection of the cells with Rous sarcoma virus.

The effect of sodium nitroprusside on survival and stress signaling in PC12 rat phaeochromocytoma cells expressing a dominant negative RasH mutant protein.

Toxic concentrations of the second messenger nitric oxide cause cellular stress leading to cell death. Ras proteins, possible targets of nitric oxide-induced nitrosylation, may act as mediators in nitrosative stress. To analyze the possible involvement of Ras proteins in nitric oxide cytotoxicity, a PC12 rat phaeochromocytoma cell line expressing a dominant negative Ras mutant protein was used in this study.

Partial rescue of geldanamycin-induced TrkA depletion by a proteasome inhibitor in PC12 cells.

In this work we tried to identify mechanisms that could explain how chemical inhibition of heat-shock protein 90 reduces nerve growth factor signaling in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. Geldanamycin is an antibiotic originally discovered based on its ability to bind heat-shock protein 90. This interaction can lead to the disruption of heat-shock protein 90-containing multimolecular complexes.

Problem-solving test: digestion of a plasmid with restriction endonucleases.

Terms to be familiar with before you start to solve the test: plasmid, restriction endonuclease, agarose gel electrophoresis, ethidium bromide staining, autoradiography, Coomassie staining, Southern blotting, linear and circular DNA, superhelical DNA, exonuclease, modification methylase, palindrome, sticky and blunt ends, nicked circular DNA.