1,720,980 research outputs found
Protein kinase C activation of physiological processes in human neutrophils at vanishingly small cytosolic Ca2+ levels
No full textAbstract
It has long been assumed that a rise in cytosolic free Ca2+, [Ca2+]i, is a necessary and sufficient event for the stimulation of a variety of cellular processes. The development of a technique which allows monitoring of [Ca2+]i in small intact cells has led to a critical revision of this simple postulate. We have recently shown that in neutrophils, Ca2+-ionophore-induced elevations of [Ca2+]i, quantitatively similar to those caused by chemotatic peptides, are ineffective in stimulating cell responses, which suggests that an additional signal is required for receptor-mediated activation. Here we show that subthreshold concentrations of phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and of a Ca2+ ionophore can quantitatively mimic the effect of a physiological agonist. However, PMA at higher concentrations can trigger NADPH-oxidase activity, exocytosis and protein phosphorylation, even when [Ca2+]i is lowered 10-20 times below the normal resting level. These results strongly suggest that activation of protein kinase C is sufficient, by itself, to induce NADPH-oxidase activation and exocytosis of secondary granules in neutrophils
Ca2+-dependent and Ca2+-independent phagocytosis in human neutrophils
No full textAbstract
The phagocytic function of neutrophils is a crucial element in host defence against invading microorganisms. Two main specific receptor-mediated mechanisms operate in the phagocyte plasma membrane, one recognizing the C3b/bi fragment of complement and the other the Fc domain of immunoglobulin G (ref. 1). There is evidence that phagocytosis mediated by these receptors differs in the number and nature of the intracellular signals generated. However, the mechanisms by which receptor binding is transduced into a signal that generates the formation of the phagocyte pseudopod is not known, although extensive biochemical evidence has allowed the postulate that calcium ion gradients in the peripheral cytoplasm, by interacting with calcium-sensitive contractile proteins, initiate the process of engulfment. Using the high-affinity fluorescent calcium indicator quin2 both to measure and to buffer intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i), we show here that in human neutrophils two mechanisms of phagocytosis coexist: a [Ca2+]i-dependent and modulated phagocytosis, triggered by activation of the Fc receptor, and a [Ca2+]i-independent mechanism triggered by the activation of the C3b/bl receptors
Correlation between plasma membrane potential and second messenger generation in the promyelocytic cell line HL-60
No full textThe effects of plasma membrane depolarization on cytosolic free calcium ([Ca2+]i) and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins(1,4,5)P3) generation were investigated in the human promyelocytic cell line HL-60 differentiated with either dimethyl sulfoxide or retinoic acid into neutrophil-like cells. Increases in [Ca2+]i and accumulation of Ins(1,4,5)P3 were triggered by two chemoattractants fMet-Leu-Phe and leukotriene B4. Plasma membrane potential was depolarized by isoosmotic substitution of NaCl with KCl, by the pore-forming ionophore gramicidin D, or by long term treatment with ouabain. Both Ca2+ mobilization from intracellular stores and Ca2+ influx across the plasma membrane were reduced by prior depolarization of plasma membrane potential regardless of the procedure employed to collapse it. Agonist-induced generation of Ins(1,4,5)P3 was also reduced in parallel in pre-depolarized HL-60 cells. The present findings provide further evidence suggesting that plasma membrane potential can be an important modulator of agonist-activated second messenger generation in myelocytic cells
Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate binding sites copurify with the putative Ca-storage protein calreticulin in rat liver.
No full textRat liver was homogenized and subjected to differential centrifugation. When the low speed nuclear pellet was processed on a Percoll gradient, plasma membrane markers and Ins(1,4,5)P3 binding activity purified together. The high speed (microsomal) fraction was subfractionated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation, resulting in 10-fold enrichment of [32P]-Ins(1,4,5)P3 binding. In the sucrose density gradient fractions there was an inverse relationship between the enrichment of plasma membrane markers and Ins(1,4,5)P3 binding sites. Endoplasmic reticulum markers showed a moderate enrichment in the fractions displaying high Ins(1,4,5)P3 binding activity. Calcium binding proteins in the homogenate and in the microsomal subfractions were separated by SDS/PAGE. A 60 kD protein, stained metachromatically with Stains-All was identified as calreticulin with immunoblotting. Its enrichment pattern was similar to that of Ins(1,4,5)P3 binding sites, indicating the co-existence of these two elements of Ca(2+)-metabolism in the same intracellular compartment in the liver
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Immunocytological identification of the microsomal calcium store of nonmuscle cells.
No full textThe biochemical and functional similarities between skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum and the microsomal Ca2+ store of nonmuscle cells are discussed. It is shown that antibodies raised against two characteristic proteins of sarcoplasmic reticulum, Ca2+ ATPase and calsequestrin, recognize similar proteins in nonmuscle cells. The subcellular distribution of these two antigens was studied at the subcellular levels in ultrathin cryosections. In a variety of cell types these two proteins were found to be localized in small membrane enclosed vesicles, apparently distinct from other known organelles. We propose that these newly recognized structures (calciosomes) represent the functional equivalent of sarcoplasmic reticulum in nonmuscle cells
Calciosome, a sarcoplasmic reticulum-like organelle involved in intracellular Ca2+-handling by non-muscle cells: studies in human neutrophils and HL-60 cells.
No full textCalciosomes are intracellular organelles in HL-60 cells, neutrophils and various other cell types, characterized by their content of a Ca2+-binding protein that is biochemically and immunologically similar to calsequestrin (CS) from muscle cells. In subcellular fractionation studies the CS-like protein copurifies with functional markers of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) releasable Ca2+-store. These markers (ATP-dependent Ca2+-uptake and IP3-induced Ca2+-release) show a subcellular distribution which is clearly distinct from the endoplasmic reticulum and other organelles. In morphological studies, antibodies against rabbit skeletal muscle CS protein specifically stained hitherto unrecognized vesicles with a diameter between 50 and 250 nm. Thus both, biochemical and morphological studies indicate that the calsequestrin containing intracellular Ca2+-store, now referred to as the calciosome, is distinct from other known organelles such as endoplasmic reticulum. Calciosomes are likely to play an important role in intracellular Ca2+-homeostasis. They are possibly the intracellular target of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and thus the source of Ca2+ that is redistributed into the cytosol following surface receptor activation in non-muscle cells
Variations on the Author
Full text link“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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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