Physiological Mechanism of Enhancing Salt Stress Tolerance of Perennial Ryegrass by 24-Epibrassinolide.

Brassinosteroids (BR) regulate plant tolerance to salt stress but the mechanisms underlying are not fully understood. This study was to investigate physiological mechanisms of 24-epibrassinolide (EBR)'s impact on salt stress tolerance in perennial ryegrass ( L.) The grass seedlings were treated with EBR at 0, 10, and 100 nM, and subjected to salt stress (250 mM NaCl).

TNFα Modulates Cardiac Conduction by Altering Electrical Coupling between Myocytes.

Tumor Necrosis Factor α (TNFα) upregulation during acute inflammatory response has been associated with numerous cardiac effects including modulating Connexin43 and vascular permeability. This may in turn alter cardiac gap junctional (GJ) coupling and extracellular volume (ephaptic coupling) respectively. We hypothesized that acute exposure to pathophysiological TNFα levels can modulate conduction velocity (CV) in the heart by altering electrical coupling: GJ and ephaptic.

Systematic Optimization of Protein Secretory Pathways in to Increase Expression of Hepatitis B Small Antigen.

Hepatitis B is a major disease that chronically infects millions of people in the world, especially in developing countries. Currently, one of the effective vaccines to prevent Hepatitis B is the Hepatitis B Small Antigen (HBsAg), which is mainly produced by the recombinant yeast . In order to bring down the price, which is still too high for people in developing countries to afford, it is important to understand key cellular processes that limit protein expression.

Potential Roles of Adropin in Central Nervous System: Review of Current Literature.

Adropin is a 4.9 kDa peptide that is important for maintenance of metabolic and non-metabolic homeostasis. It regulates glucose and fatty acid metabolism and is involved in endothelial cell function and endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase bioactivity as well as physical activity and motor coordination.

Heart Rate and Extracellular Sodium and Potassium Modulation of Gap Junction Mediated Conduction in Guinea Pigs.

Background: Recent studies suggested that cardiac conduction in murine hearts with narrow perinexi and 50% reduced connexin43 (Cx43) expression is more sensitive to relatively physiological changes of extracellular potassium ([K(+)]o) and sodium ([Na(+)]o).

Purpose: Determine whether similar [K(+)]o and [Na(+)]o changes alter conduction velocity (CV) sensitivity to pharmacologic gap junction (GJ) uncoupling in guinea pigs.

Methods: [K(+)]o and [Na(+)]o were varied in Langendorff perfused guinea pig ventricles (Solution A: [K(+)]o = 4.