Deficiency of Pkc1 activity affects glycerol metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In pressProtein kinase C is apparently involved in the control of many cellular systems: the cell wall integrity pathway, the synthesis of ribosomes, the appropriated reallocation of transcription factors under specific stress conditions and also the regulation of N-glycosylation activity. All these observations suggest the existence of additional targets not yet identified. In the context of the control of carbon metabolism, previous data demonstrated that Pkc1 p might play a central role in the control of cellular growth and metabolism in yeast. In particular, it has been suggested that it might be involved in the derepression of genes under glucose-repression by driving an appropriated subcellular localization of transcriptional factors, such as Mig1 p. In this work, we show that pkc1∆ mutant is unable to grow on glycerol because it cannot perform the derepression of GUT1 gene that encodes for glycerol kinase. Additionally, active transport is also partially affected. Using this phenotype, we were able to isolate a new pkc1∆ revertant. We also isolated two transformants identified as the nuclear exportin Msn5 and the histone deacetylase Hos2 extragenic suppressors of this mutation. Based on these results, we postulate that Pkc1 p may be involved in the control of the cellular localization and/or regulation of the activity of nuclear proteins implicated in gene expression.Fundação Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (FUFOP). Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) - CBS-1875/95. Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) - 300998/89-9 to R.L.B., 301255/01-6 to L.G.F

Fabrication and in vitro characterization of polymeric nanoparticles for Parkinson's therapy: a novel approach

The objective of the research was to formulate and evaluate selegiline hydrochloride loaded chitosan nanoparticles for the Parkinson's therapy in order to improve its therapeutic effect and reducing dosing frequency. Taguchi method of design of experiments (L9 orthogonal array) was used to get optimized formulation. The selegiline hydrochloride loaded chitosan nanoparticles (SHPs) were prepared by ionic gelation of chitosan with tripolyphosphate anions (TPP) and tween 80 as surfactant. The SHPs had a mean size of (303.39 ± 2.01) nm, a zeta potential of +32.50mV, and entrapment efficiency of SHPs was 86.200 ± 1.38%. The in vitro drug release of SHPs was evaluated in phosphate buffer saline (pH 5.5) using goat nasal mucosa and found to be 82.529% ± 1.308 up to 28 h. Release kinetics studies showed that the release of drug from nanoparticles was anomalous (non-fickian) diffusion indicating the drug release is controlled by more than one process i.e. superposition of both phenomenon, the diffusion controlled as well as swelling controlled release. SHPs showed good stability results as found during stability studies at different temperatures as mentioned in ICH guidelines. The results revealed that selegiline hydrochloride loaded chitosan nanoparticles are most suitable mode of delivery of drug for promising therapeutic action

Regulation of phosphorylase kinase by low concentrations of Ca ions upon muscle contraction: the connection between metabolism and muscle contraction and the connection between muscle physiology and Ca-dependent signal transduction

It had long been one of the crucial questions in muscle physiology how glycogenolysis is regulated in connection with muscle contraction, when we found the answer to this question in the last half of the 1960s. By that time, the two principal currents of muscle physiology, namely, the metabolic flow starting from glycogen and the mechanisms of muscle contraction, had already been clarified at the molecular level thanks to our senior researchers. Thus, the final question we had to answer was how to connect these two currents. We found that low concentrations of Ca ions (10−7–10−4 M) released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum for the regulation of muscle contraction simultaneously reversibly activate phosphorylase kinase, the enzyme regulating glycogenolysis. Moreover, we found that adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cyclic AMP), which is already known to activate muscle phosphorylase kinase, is not effective in the absence of such concentrations of Ca ions. Thus, cyclic AMP is not effective by itself alone and only modifies the activation process in the presence of Ca ions (at that time, cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase had not yet been identified). After a while, it turned out that our works have not only provided the solution to the above problem on muscle physiology, but have also been considered as the first report of Ca-dependent protein phosphorylation, which is one of the central problems in current cell biology. Phosphorylase kinase is the first protein kinase to phosphorylate a protein resulting in the change in the function of the phosphorylated protein, as shown by Krebs and Fischer. Our works further showed that this protein kinase is regulated in a Ca-dependent manner. Accordingly, our works introduced the concept of low concentrations of Ca ions, which were first identified as the regulatory substance of muscle contraction, to the vast field of Ca biology including signal transduction

Experimental and Computational Procedures for the Analysis and Design of Mountain Bike Suspension Systems

No abstract available

Experimental evaluation of mountain bike suspension systems

A significant distinction between competitive mountain bikes is whether they have a suspension system. Research studies indicate that a suspension system gives advantages, but it is difficult to quantify the benefits because they depend on so many variables, including the physiology and psychology of the cyclist, the roughness of the track and the design of the suspension system. A laboratory based test rig has been built that allows the number of variables in the system to be reduced and test conditions to be controlled. The test rig simulates regular impacts of the rear wheel with bumps in a rolling road. The physiological variables of oxygen consumption and heart rate were measured, together with speeds and forces at various points in the system. Physiological and mechanical test results both confirm a significant benefit in using a suspension system on the simulated rough track, with oxygen consumption reduced by around 30 % and power transmitted through the pedals reduced by 30 % to 60 %. Keywords: mountain bike, suspension, dynamics