Permeability and structure of junctional membranes at an electrotonic synapse

The dye Procion Yellow M4RS crosses junctional membranes from cytoplasm to cytoplasm at electrotonic synapses between segments of the crayfish septate axon. The dye does not enter the cells from extracellular space. Thus permeability of junctional membranes is qualitatively different from that of nonjunctional membranes. Electron microscopy after fixation in the presence of lanthanum hydroxide indicates that these synapses are "gap junctions" and that there is a network of channels continuous with extracellular space between apposed junctional membranes. These channels must be interlaced with intercytoplasmic channels that are not open to extracellular space.     

Insect aerodynamics: vertical sustaining force in near-hovering flight

The source of vertical sustaining force for large insects capable of near-hovering flight is unclear. Induced velocities of a simulation of the insect Melolontha vulgaris in forward flight were measured with a hot-wire anemometer. The results were negative with respect to the drag concept of vertical force, but provided certain support for the circulation concept. Unsteady effects (the effects of variant air velocity) proved significant.     

Carbon tetrachloride at hepatotoxic levels blocks reversibly gap junctions between rat hepatocytes

Electrical coupling and dye coupling between pairs of rat hepatocytes were reversibly reduced by brief exposure to halogenated methanes (CBrCl3, CCl4, and CHCl3). The potency of different halomethanes in uncoupling hepatocytes was comparable to their hepatotoxicity in vivo, and the rank order was the same as that of their tendency to form free radicals. The effect of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) on hepatocytes was substantially reduced by prior treatment with SKF 525A, an inhibitor of cytochrome P-450, and by exposure to the reducing reagent beta-mercaptoethanol. Halomethane uncoupling occurred with or without extracellular calcium and did not change intracellular concentrations of calcium and hydrogen ions or the phosphorylation state of the main gap-junctional protein. Thus the uncoupling appears to depend on cytochrome P-450 oxidative metabolism in which free radicals are generated and may result from oxidation of the gap-junctional protein or of a regulatory molecule that leads to closure of gap-junctional channels. Decreases in junctional conductance may be a rapid cellular response to injury that protects healthy cells by uncoupling them from unhealthy ones.     

Rat brain: effects of environmental enrichment on wet and dry weights

Wet weight of rat cerebral cortex was increased by exposure to an enriched environment, as compared with standard colony or impoverished conditions. Dry weights and wet weights were compared and both yielded identical percentage differences between brains of animals experiencing enrichment and those experiencing impoverishment.     

Temperature-dependence of resistance at an electrotonic synapse

The junctional resistance at septa of the crayfish lateral giant axon is inversely related to temperature with a Q(1l), of about 3 over the range from 5 degrees to 20 degrees C. Nonjunctional axonal membrane is much less affected. Resistance changes occur rapidly with temperature changes. No correlates in ultrastructure of the synapses have been found.     

Discovery of a Jupiter/Saturn analog with gravitational microlensing

Searches for extrasolar planets have uncovered an astonishing diversity of planetary systems, yet the frequency of solar system analogs remains unknown. The gravitational microlensing planet search method is potentially sensitive to multiple-planet systems containing analogs of all the solar system planets except Mercury. We report the detection of a multiple-planet system with microlensing. We identify two planets with masses of approximately 0.71 and approximately 0.27 times the mass of Jupiter and orbital separations of approximately 2.3 and approximately 4.6 astronomical units orbiting a primary star of mass approximately 0.50 solar mass at a distance of approximately 1.5 kiloparsecs. This system resembles a scaled version of our solar system in that the mass ratio, separation ratio, and equilibrium temperatures of the planets are similar to those of Jupiter and Saturn. These planets could not have been detected with other techniques; their discovery from only six confirmed microlensing planet detections suggests that solar system analogs may be common.     

Colocalization of band 3 with ankyrin and spectrin at the basal membrane of intercalated cells in the rat kidney

An immunoreactive form of the anion channel protein of erythrocytes, band 3, has been identified in the rat kidney. It is found in the intercalated cells of the distal tubule and collecting ducts. Immunostaining specific for band 3 is confined to the basolateral plasma membrane of these cells, where this protein probably mediates the transport of bicarbonate across the tubular wall. Double-immunolabeling studies demonstrate that band 3 is colocalized with immunoreactive forms of ankyrin and spectrin along the basolateral plasma membrane. The polarized distribution of band 3 may be the result of the association of its cytoplasmic domain with ankyrin, which in turn links band 3 to spectrin and the cytoskeleton. These observations help to explain how the collecting ducts of the kidney can direct the transport of bicarbonate ions, thus maintaining the acid-base balance.     

Mechanism of Na+/H+ antiporting

Na+/H+ antiporters are central to cellular salt and pH homeostasis. The structure of Escherichia coli NhaA was recently determined, but its mechanisms of transport and pH regulation remain elusive. We performed molecular dynamics simulations of NhaA that, with existing experimental data, enabled us to propose an atomically detailed model of antiporter function. Three conserved aspartates are key to our proposed mechanism: Asp164 (D164) is the Na+-binding site, D163 controls the alternating accessibility of this binding site to the cytoplasm or periplasm, and D133 is crucial for pH regulation. Consistent with experimental stoichiometry, two protons are required to transport a single Na+ ion: D163 protonates to reveal the Na+-binding site to the periplasm, and subsequent protonation of D164 releases Na+. Additional mutagenesis experiments further validated the model.