1,721,077 research outputs found
Soluble integrin ligands and growth factors independently rescue neuroblastoma cells from apoptosis under non-adherent condition
Combinatorial cis-acting elements regulate tissue-specific expression of the cardiac troponin I gene in vitro and in vivo
The cardiac troponin I gene is one of the few sarcomeric protein genes exclusively expressed in cardiac muscle. We show here that this specificity is controlled by a proximal promoter (-230/+16) in transfected cardiac cells in culture, in the adult hearts, and in transgenic animals. Functional analysis indicates that MEF2/Oct-1, Sp1, and GATA regulatory elements are required for optimal gene activation because selective mutations produce weak or inactive promoters. MEF2 and Oct-1 transcription factors bind to the same A/T-rich element. A mutation that blocks this binding markedly reduces gene activation in vivo and in vitro, and overexpression of MEF2A, MEF2C, and MEF2D in noncardiac cells transactivates the cardiac troponin I promoter. Disruption of these elements inactivates the cardiac troponin I promoter in cultured cardiac cells but has a less important role in transfected adult heart. Moreover, nuclear extracts from an almost pure population of adult cardiac cells contain much lower levels of GATA binding activity compared with fetal cardiac cells. These findings point to a differential role of GATA factors in the maintenance of gene expression in the adult heart as compared with the activation of cardiac genes in fetal cardiomyocytes. Overexpression of GATA family members transactivates the cardiac troponin I promoter, and GATA-5 and GATA-6 are stronger transactivators than GATA-4, a property apparently unique to the cardiac troponin I promoter. Transgenic mice carrying the -230/+126 base pair promoter express beta-galactosidase reporter gene in the heart both at early stages of cardiogenesis and in the adult animals. These results indicate that the ability of the cardiac troponin I proximal promoter to target expression of a downstream gene in the heart is also maintained when the transgene is integrated into the genome
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Rate of concentration and digestion of radioactive growth hormone preparations injected in rats, as measured by the amount and nature of radioactivity in the tissues
The distribution of radioactivity in the tissues of the rat has been established after the administration of radioactive bovine growth hormone preparations. Bovine growth hormone was used either transformed in to a14C-guanidinated derivative, which was fully active, of labeled with less than 1 mole per mole of125I. The tissue radioactivity distribution curves obtained belong to two different categories: in kidney, liver and spleen there is an early concentration which attains a maximum in 15 minutes after the injection of the hormone, and rapidly declines. In heart, skeletal muscle, pancreas, intestine, bone and fat, the radioactivity increases gradually and a steady-state is reached after 30 to 60 minutes. Kidney is the organ where the highest concentration of radioactivity occurs. However, muscle accumulates more than 60% of the initial doses after 2 hours. Very little radioactivity appears in the urine, in this period. Similar results have been obtained with pharmacological or physiological doses of the labeled hormones. Blood plasma does not degrade the injected hormone but kidney, liver and muscle rapidly produce radioactive fragments soluble in 10% trichloro-acetic acid. © 1977 Dr. W. Junk b.v. Publishers
Ciliary neurotrophic factor-induced gene expression in human neuroblastoma cell lines
We have analyzed the response of the human neuroblastoma cell lines SK-N-SH (clone SY5Y) and SK-N-BE to the ciliary neurotrophic factor CNTF. In both cell lines CNTF induced the expression of the mRNA for two transcription factors, c-fos and NGF1A. The induction was rapid and transient reaching a maximum between 30 and 60 min after exposure to CNTF and subsequently declining. The level of induction of both c-fos and NGF1A mRNAs was much higher in SK-N-BE neuroblastoma cells compared to the SY5Y. Both cells express comparable levels of the transcript for the CNTF receptor-alpha. This mRNA was down regulated after 5 days of CNTF stimulation in both cell lines. CNTF also induced increased levels of the transcript for the growth cone associated protein GAP43 in SK-N-BE, but not in SY5Y cells. Induction followed a slower kinetic compared to that observed for c-fos and NGF1A. In fact, the GAP43 mRNA levels increased during 2 days of exposure to CNTF. Morphological analysis of CNTF treated cells showed that SK-N-BE undergo significant differentiation in response to CNTF (increased number of cells with neurites and increased neurite length) while SY5Y did not show appreciable morphological differentiation. These data shows that CNTF may elicit different response in neuroblastoma cell lines
Cloning of cDNA for a novel mouse membrane glycoprotein (gp42): shared identity to histocompatibility antigens, immunoglobulins and neural-cell adhesion molecules
A full-length clone encoding a murine membrane glycoprotein, gp42, was selected from a mouse fibroblast cDNA expression library by screening with a polyclonal antiserum. The deduced amino acid (aa) sequence indicates that gp42 is a transmembrane protein of 273 aa with a large N-terminal portion exposed outside the cell and a short cytoplasmic domain. Computer assisted analysis shows that gp42 is distinct from previously characterized proteins, but shares a number of structural features with the class II histocompatibility antigens. The sizes of the extracellular domains of gp42 and of class II histocompatibility antigens are similar, the position of four cysteines and the location of several aa residues are conserved. Some of these conserved residues are also present in immunoglobulins (Ig) and in the neural-cell adhesion molecule, thus indicating that gp42 is a new member of the Ig superfamily. © 1989
A single cis-acting element in a short promoter segment of the gene encoding the Interphotoreceptor Retinoid Binding Protein (IRBP) confers tissue-specific expression
Variations on the Author
“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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