MCFP

Bacteria and fungi use a set of enzymes called nonribosomal peptide synthetases to provide a wide range of natural peptides displaying structural and biological diversity. So, nonribosomal peptides (NRPs) are the basis for some efficient drugs. While discovering new NRPs is very desirable, the process of identifying their biological activity to be used as drugs is a challenge. In this paper, we present a novel peptide fingerprint based on monomer composition (MCFP) of NRPs. MCFP is a novel method for obtaining a representative description of NRP structures from their monomer composition in fingerprint form...

Administration of the 5-HT(1A) receptor agonist, 8-OH-DPAT, improves cardiovascular hemodynamics and tissue oxygenation in conscious rats subjected to hypovolemic shock. This effect is mediated by sympathetic-dependent increases in venous tone. To determine the role of splanchnic nerves in this response, effects of 8-OH-DPAT (30 nmol/kg iv) were measured following fixed-arterial blood pressure hemorrhagic shock (i.e., maintenance of 50 mmHg arterial pressure for 25 min) in rats subjected to bilateral splanchnic nerve denervation (SD)...

Protective coating of the byssus of mussels (Mytilus sp.) has been suggested as a new paradigm of medical coating due to its high extensibility and hardness co-existence without their mutual detriment. The only known biomacromolecule in the extensible and tough coating on the byssus is mussel foot protein-1 (mfp-1), which is made up with positively charged residues (~20 mol%) and lack of negatively charged residues. Here, adhesion and molecular interaction mechanisms of Mytilus californianus foot protein-1 (mcfp-1) from California blue mussel were investigated using a surface forces apparatus (SFA) in buffer solutions of different ionic concentrations (0...

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The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of covering wounds to the tongue with a polyglycolic acid (PGA) sheet and fibrin glue. Eighteen mature male Japanese white rabbits had a unilateral glossectomy involving an area 10mm×10mm×2mm. After glossectomy the tongues were covered with PGA sheets 8mm×8mm in size and fibrin glue (mucosal defect covered with fibrin glue and polyglycolic acid sheet=MCFP) 1 week after the operation (n=3), after 2 weeks (n=3), and after 4 weeks (n=3). In control groups, after 1, 2, and 4 weeks (n=3 in each group), the partially resected tongues were closed with absorbable sutures (polyglactin 910)...

PURPOSE: XOPS-mCFP transgenic zebrafish experience a continual cycle of rod photoreceptor development and degeneration throughout life, making them a useful model for investigating the molecular determinants of rod photoreceptor regeneration. The purpose of this study was to compare the gene expression profiles of wild-type and XOPS-mCFP retinas and identify genes that may contribute to the regeneration of the rods. METHODS: Adult wild-type and XOPS-mCFP retinal mRNA was subjected to microarray analysis...

Ephrins and Eph receptor tyrosine kinases are cell-surface molecules that serve a multitude of functions in cell-cell communication in development, physiology, and disease. EphA4 is a promiscuous member of the EphA subclass of Eph receptors and can bind to both EphrinAs and EphrinBs. In addition to its well-established roles in guiding the development of neuronal connectivity, EphA4 has been implicated for a role in synaptic plasticity, vascular formation, axon regeneration, and central nervous system repair following injury...

Values of intramural or even transmural central venous pressure (CVP) as well as values of pulmonary artery occluded pressure do not correlate with the values of measured circulating blood volume or with responsiveness to fluid challenge. The veins contain approximately 70% of the total blood volume and are 30 times more compliant than arteries, therefore, changes in blood volume within the veins are associated with relatively small changes in venous pressure. The main reason for a lack of correlation between CVP values and blood volume is that the body does everything possible to maintain homeostasis and adequate transmural CVP is a must for cardiovascular function...

The 5-HT(1A) receptor agonist, 8- OH-DPAT, increases whole body venous tone (mean circulatory filling pressure; MCFP), and attenuates metabolic acidosis in a rat model of unresuscitated hemorrhagic shock. To determine whether improved acid-base balance was associated with sympathetic activation and venous constriction, MCFP, sympathetic activity (SA), and blood gases were compared in hemorrhaged rats following administration of 5-HT(1A) receptor agonist 8-OH-DPAT, the arterial vasoconstrictor arginine vasopressin (AVP), or saline...

For lasting holdfast attachment, the mussel Mytilus californianus coats its byssal threads with a protective cuticle 2-5 microm thick that is 4-6 times stiffer than the underlying collagen fibers. Although cuticle hardness (0.1 GPa) and stiffness (2 GPa) resemble those observed in related mussels, a more effective dispersion of microdamage enables M. californianus byssal threads to sustain strains to almost 120% before cuticle rupture occurs. Underlying factors for the superior damage tolerance of the byssal cuticle were explored in its microarchitecture and in the cuticular protein, mcfp-1...

Maize plasma membrane aquaporins (ZmPIPs, where PIP is the plasma membrane intrinsic protein) fall into two groups, ZmPIP1s and ZmPIP2s, which, when expressed alone in mesophyll protoplasts, are found in different subcellular locations. Whereas ZmPIP1s are retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), ZmPIP2s are found in the plasma membrane (PM). We previously showed that, when co-expressed with ZmPIP2s, ZmPIP1s are relocalized to the PM, and that this relocalization results from the formation of hetero-oligomers between ZmPIP1s and ZmPIP2s...

BACKGROUND: Venous capacitance plays an important role in circulatory homeostasis. A number of reports have suggested an effect of estrogen on venous function. This study tested the hypothesis that ovariectomy would increase venous tone in the female spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) via autonomic mechanisms. METHODS: Five-week-old female SHR were subjected to sham operation (Sham) or ovariectomy (OVX). At 10 weeks of age, the rats were instrumented for the measurement of arterial and venous pressure...

Development of therapies to treat visual system dystrophies resulting from the degeneration of rod and cone photoreceptors may directly benefit from studies of animal models, such as the zebrafish, that display continuous retinal neurogenesis and the capacity for injury-induced regeneration. Previous studies of retinal regeneration in fish have been conducted on adult animals and have relied on methods that cause acute damage to both rods and cones, as well as other retinal cell types. We report here the use of a genetic approach to study progenitor cell responses to photoreceptor degeneration in the larval and adult zebrafish retina...

Cathepsin X is a lysosomal, cysteine dependent carboxypeptidase. Its expression is restricted to cells of the immune system, suggesting a function related to the processes of inflammatory and immune responses. It has been shown to stimulate macrophage antigen-1 (Mac-1) receptor-dependent adhesion and phagocytosis via interaction with integrin beta2 subunit. Here its potential role in regulating lymphocyte proliferation via Mac-1 and the other beta2 integrin receptor, lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) has been investigated...

The zebrafish is an excellent model organism in which to study the retina's response to photoreceptor degeneration and/or acute injury. While much has been learned about the retinal stem and progenitor cells that mediate the damage response, several questions remain that cannot be addressed by acute models of injury. The development of genetic models, such as the XOPS-mCFP transgenic line, should further efforts to understand the nature of the signals that promote rod progenitor proliferation and differentiation following photoreceptor loss...

Mytilus californianus foot protein three (Mcfp-3) was successfully expressed in the yeast, Kluyveromyces lactis. The first nine amino acids (YPYDVPDYA) from the human-influenza-virus hemagglutinin (HA) protein were fused to the amino terminus of Mcfp-3 (HA-Mcfp-3) to facilitate identification and purification. HA-Mcfp-3 was purified to a concentration of 1mg/L using HA affinity chromatography. The recovered polypeptide was resolved by SDS-PAGE and migrated primarily at 36 kDa, an increase of approximately 29 kDa over the calculated molecular weight of a HA-Mcfp-3 monomer...

Many ectotherms regularly experience considerable short-term variations in environmental temperature, which affects their body temperature. Here we investigate the cardiovascular responses to a stepwise acute temperature increase from 10 to 13 and 16 degrees C in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Cardiac output increased by 20 and 31% at 13 and 16 degrees C, respectively. This increase was entirely mediated by an increased heart rate (fH), whereas stroke volume (SV) decreased significantly by 20% at 16 degrees C...

A computer model of the human cardiovascular system has been created based on Guyton's closed circuit analysis of the heart and the peripheral circulatory system. This model was checked against Guyton's experiments performed in anesthetised dogs regarding the normal venous return curve, the effect of mean circulatory filling pressure (MCFP) and the importance of arterial venous and capillary resistance. These comparisons indicate that this simple model is valid for the study of Guyton's experimental work and also forms the bases of a more complex model of the cardiovascular model with specific attention to the venous system...

Building complex load-bearing scaffolds depends on effective ways of joining functionally different biomacromolecules. The junction between collagen fibers and foamlike adhesive plaques in mussel byssus is robust despite the strikingly dissimilar connected structures. mcfp-4, the matrix protein from this junction, and its presecreted form from the foot tissue of Mytilus californianus were isolated and characterized. mcfp-4 has a mass of approximately 93 kDa as determined by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Its composition is dominated by histidine (22 mol %), but levels of lysine, arginine, and aspartate are also significant...

Synbranchus marmoratus is a facultative air-breathing fish, which uses its buccal cavity as well as its gills for air-breathing. S. marmoratus shows a very pronounced tachycardia when it surfaces to air-breathe. An elevation of heart rate decreases cardiac filling time and therefore may cause a decline in stroke volume (V(S)), but this can be compensated for by an increase in venous tone to maintain stroke volume. Thus, the study on S. marmoratus was undertaken to investigate how stroke volume and venous function are affected during air-breathing...