Ceramide triggers budding of exosome vesicles into multivesicular endosomes

Intraluminal vesicles of multivesicular endosomes are either sorted for cargo degradation into lysosomes or secreted as exosomes into the extracellular milieu. The mechanisms underlying the sorting of membrane into the different populations of intraluminal vesicles are unknown. Here, we find that cargo is segregated into distinct subdomains on the endosomal membrane and that the transfer of exosome-associated domains into the lumen of the endosome did not depend on the function of the ESCRT (endosomal sorting complex required for transport) machinery, but required the sphingolipid ceramide. Purified exosomes were enriched in ceramide, and the release of exosomes was reduced after the inhibition of neutral sphingomyelinases. These results establish a pathway in intraendosomal membrane transport and exosome formation.     

Solution of a protein crystal structure with a model obtained from NMR interproton distance restraints

Model calculations were performed to test the possibility of solving crystal structures of proteins by Patterson search techniques with three-dimensional structures obtained from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) interproton distance restraints. Structures for crambin obtained from simulated NMR data were used as the test system; the root-mean-square deviations of the NMR structures from the x-ray structure were 1.5 to 2.2 A for backbone atoms and 2.0 to 2.8 A for side-chain atoms. Patterson searches were made to determine the orientation and position of the NMR structures in the unit cell. The correct solution was obtained by comparing the rotation function results of several of the NMR structures and the average structure derived from them. Conventional refinement techniques reduced the R factor from 0.43 at 4 A resolution to 0.27 at 2 A resolution without inclusion of water molecules. The partially refined structure has root-mean-square backbone and side-chain atom deviations from the x-ray structure of 0.5 and 1.3 A, respectively.     

European restructuring and changing agricultural policies. Rural self-identity and modes of life in late modernity

The main idea of this article is to present various perspectives in order to analyze the recent crisis concerning the agriculture-based rural societies in the developed capitalist communities. In all of these countries there is a production crisis, resulting in too much food. But this is also an ideological crisis, because the consumer thinks that the food is produced at too high a price. And it is a political crisis as well because a major part of the voters think subsidies and trade barriers are too high. The paper argues that beneath the present agricultural and rural policy crisis lies the failure of three great projects of our time: 1) The project of natural science; 2) The project of liberal capitalism; and 3) The project of scientific socialism. The failure of these three projects has to do with the breakdown of the positivist idea of modernization. Modernization theory was partly wrong because it overlooked the persistence of locally based life modes. Those life modes must be understood before a sustainable rural development is found. The article reviews some contemporary social science perspectives that have recently been developed to grasp the fundamental changes of today's rural societies. Based on those perspectives and primarily the life mode perspective, five key elements that are essential to analyze if we want to understand future development are isolated: food production, resources, space, social diversity, and culture.Reidar Almås is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Trondheim, Norway, where he directs the Center for Rural Research. He received his Dr. philos. at the University of Trondheim with a dissertation on group farms. Almås is now doing research on food policies, rural development, and public perception of biotechnology. In addition to several books in Norwegian, he has publishedRural Norway, a gift to Europe. Fifteen selected articles on rural persistence and change.     

A unified description of linear and nonlinear polarization in organic polymethine dyes

An internal or external electric field F can drive the chemical structure, bond order alternation, and electronic structure of linear polymethine dyes from a neutral, bond-alternated, polyene-like structure, through a cyanine-like structure, and ultimately to a zwitterionic (charge-separated) bond-alternated structure. As the structure evolves under the influence of F, the linear polarizability alpha, the first hyperpolarizability beta, and the second hyperpolarizability gamma are seen to be derivatives, with respect to F, of their next lower order polarization (for alpha) or polarizability (for beta and gamma). These derivative relations provide a unified picture of the dependence of the polarizability and hyperpolarizabilities on the structure in linear polymethine dyes. In addition, they allow for predictions of structure-property relations of higher order hyperpolarizabilities.     

Establishment and Identification of Cytoplasmic Male Sterility in Brassica napus by Intergeneric Somatic Hybridization

Exploitation of novel cytoplasmic male sterility(CMS)is a main approach for widening the cytoplasmic genetic background of hybrid oilseed rape and avoiding epidemic risk in oilseed rape production.In this study,symmetric somatic hybrids between Brassicanapus var.Zhongshuang4 and Sinapis arvensis(Yeyou18)were produced by protoplast fusion.Two of the six established hybrids were male sterile showing trace or no pollen release upon flowering with non-or slightly extended stamens.Using Zhongshuang4 as a recurrent parent to pollinate the male sterile plants,the ratio of male sterile plants increased with the number of backcrosses.As early as in BC3 generation,most of the sterile families had nearly 100%sterile plants.Up to BC4 generation,the male sterility became stable and no fertility segregation was observed.All F1 progenies from tested crosses using restorer and maintainer lines of Polima CMS were 100%sterile,indicating that the established CMS by somatic hybridization is different from Polima CMS.The origin of the cytoplasm and potential use of this hovel CMS in oilseed rape breeding were discussed.Key wotds:Oilseed rape,Protoplast fusion,Cytoplasmic male sterility,Sinapis arvensis     

Stability of Ferropericlase in the Lower Mantle

We have heated ferropericlases (Mg(0.60)Fe(0.40))O and (Mg(0.50)Fe(0.50))O to temperatures of 1000 kelvin at pressures of 86 gigapascals, simulating the stability of the solid solution at physical conditions relevant to Earth's lower mantle. The in situ x-ray study of the externally heated samples in a Mao-Bell-type diamond anvil cell shows that ferropericlase may dissociate into magnesium-rich and iron-rich oxide components. The result is important because the decomposition of ferropericlase into lighter and heavier phases will cause dynamic effects that could lead to mantle heterogeneity.     

Role of brain insulin receptor in control of body weight and reproduction

Insulin receptors (IRs) and insulin signaling proteins are widely distributed throughout the central nervous system (CNS). To study the physiological role of insulin signaling in the brain, we created mice with a neuron-specific disruption of the IR gene (NIRKO mice). Inactivation of the IR had no impact on brain development or neuronal survival. However, female NIRKO mice showed increased food intake, and both male and female mice developed diet-sensitive obesity with increases in body fat and plasma leptin levels, mild insulin resistance, elevated plasma insulin levels, and hypertriglyceridemia. NIRKO mice also exhibited impaired spermatogenesis and ovarian follicle maturation because of hypothalamic dysregulation of luteinizing hormone. Thus, IR signaling in the CNS plays an important role in regulation of energy disposal, fuel metabolism, and reproduction.