1,361 research outputs found
Two-Photon Uncaging of Glutamate
Two-photon microscopy produces the excited singlet state of a chromophore with wavelengths approximately double that used for normal excitation. Two photons are absorbed almost simultaneously, via a virtual state, and this makes the excitation technique inherently non-linear. It requires ultra-fast lasers to deliver the high flux density needed to access intrinsically very short lived intermediates, and in combination with lenses of high numerical aperture, this confines axial excitation highly. Since the two-photon excitation volume is similar to a large spine head, the technique has been widely used to study glutamatergic transmission in brain slices. Here I describe the principles of two-photon uncaging of glutamate and provide a practical guide to its application
Local recovery of cardiac calciumâinduced calcium release interrogated by ultraâeffective, twoâphoton uncaging of calcium
KEY POINTS: In cardiac myocytes, subcellular local calcium release signals, calcium sparks, are recruited to form each cellular calcium transient and activate the contractile machinery. Abnormal timing of recovery of sparks after their termination may contribute to arrhythmias. We developed a method to interrogate recovery of calcium spark trigger probabilities and their amplitude over time using twoâphoton photolysis of a new ultraâeffective caged calcium compound. The findings confirm the utility of the technique to define an elevated sensitivity of the calcium release mechanism in situ and to follow hastened recovery of spark trigger probabilities in a mouse model of an inherited cardiac arrhythmia, which was used for validation. Analogous methods are likely to be applicable to investigate other microscopic subcellular signalling systems in a variety of cell types. ABSTRACT: In cardiac myocytes Ca(2+)âinduced Ca(2+) release (CICR) from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) through ryanodine receptors (RyRs) governs activation of contraction. Ca(2+) release occurs via subcellular Ca(2+) signalling events, Ca(2+) sparks. Local recovery of Ca(2+) release depends on both SR refilling and restoration of Ca(2+) sensitivity of the RyRs. We used twoâphoton (2P) photolysis of the ultraâeffective caged Ca(2+) compound BISTâ2EGTA and laserâscanning confocal Ca(2+) imaging to probe refractoriness of local Ca(2+) release in control conditions and in the presence of cAMP or lowâdose caffeine (to stimulate CICR) or cyclopiazonic acid (CPA; to slow SR refilling). Permeabilized cardiomyocytes were loaded with BISTâ2EGTA and rhodâ2. Pairs of short 2P photolytic pulses (1Â ms, 810Â nm) were applied with different intervals to test Ca(2+) release amplitude recovery and trigger probability for the second spark in a pair. Photolytic and biological events were distinguished by classification with a selfâlearning support vector machine (SVM) algorithm. In permeabilized myocytes data recorded in the presence of CPA showed a lower probability of triggering a second spark compared to control or cAMP conditions. Cardiomyocytes from a mouse model harbouring the arrhythmogenic RyR(R420Q) mutation were used for further validation and revealed a higher Ca(2+) sensitivity of CICR. This new 2P approach provides composite information of Ca(2+) release amplitude and trigger probability recovery reflecting both SR refilling and restoration of CICR and RyR Ca(2+) sensitivity. It can be used to measure the kinetics of local CICR recovery, alterations of which may be related to premature heart beats and arrhythmias
Disrupting the one-loop renormalization group invariant M/alpha in supersymmetry
It is well known that in low energy supersymmetry the ratio of the gaugino
mass to the gauge coupling squared, M/alpha, is renormalization group invariant
to one-loop. We present a systematic analysis of the corrections to this ratio,
including standard two-loop corrections from gauge and Yukawa couplings,
corrections due to an additional U(1)' gaugino, threshold corrections,
superoblique corrections, corrections due to extra matter, GUT and Planck scale
corrections, and ``corrections'' from messenger sectors with supersymmetry
breaking communicated via gauge-mediation. We show that many of these effects
induce corrections at the level of a few to tens of percent, but some could
give much larger corrections, drastically disrupting the renormalization group
extrapolation of the ratio to higher scales. Our analysis is essentially
model-independent, and therefore can be used to determine the ambiguities in
extrapolating the ratio in any given model between the weak scale and higher
scales.Comment: 43 pages, LaTeX, uses epsf.sty, axodraw.sty, 12 eps figures. Minor
typos corrected. To appear in Nucl. Phys.
Aromatase inhibition remodels the clonal architecture of estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers
Resistance to oestrogen-deprivation therapy is common in oestrogen-receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer. To better understand the contributions of tumour heterogeneity and evolution to resistance, here we perform comprehensive genomic characterization of 22 primary tumours sampled before and after 4 months of neoadjuvant aromatase inhibitor (NAI) treatment. Comparing whole-genome sequencing of tumour/normal pairs from the two time points, with coincident tumour RNA sequencing, reveals widespread spatial and temporal heterogeneity, with marked remodelling of the clonal landscape in response to NAI. Two cases have genomic evidence of two independent tumours, most obviously an ERâ âcollision tumour', which was only detected after NAI treatment of baseline ER+ disease. Many mutations are newly detected or enriched post treatment, including two ligand-binding domain mutations in ESR1. The observed clonal complexity of the ER+ breast cancer genome suggests that precision medicine approaches based on genomic analysis of a single specimen are likely insufficient to capture all clinically significant information
The Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model
We review the theoretical and phenomenological aspects of the Next-to-Minimal
Supersymmetric Standard Model: the Higgs sector including radiative corrections
and the 2-loop beta-functions for all parameters of the general NMSSM; the
tadpole and domain wall problems, baryogenesis; NMSSM phenomenology at
colliders, B physics and dark matter; specific scenarios as the constrained
NMSSM, Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking, U(1)'-extensions, CP and R-parity
violation.Comment: 144 pages, 11 figures, corrections in Eqs.(2.2), (2.21), (B.9
A review of elliptical and disc galaxy structure, and modern scaling laws
A century ago, in 1911 and 1913, Plummer and then Reynolds introduced their
models to describe the radial distribution of stars in `nebulae'. This article
reviews the progress since then, providing both an historical perspective and a
contemporary review of the stellar structure of bulges, discs and elliptical
galaxies. The quantification of galaxy nuclei, such as central mass deficits
and excess nuclear light, plus the structure of dark matter halos and cD galaxy
envelopes, are discussed. Issues pertaining to spiral galaxies including dust,
bulge-to-disc ratios, bulgeless galaxies, bars and the identification of
pseudobulges are also reviewed. An array of modern scaling relations involving
sizes, luminosities, surface brightnesses and stellar concentrations are
presented, many of which are shown to be curved. These 'redshift zero'
relations not only quantify the behavior and nature of galaxies in the Universe
today, but are the modern benchmark for evolutionary studies of galaxies,
whether based on observations, N-body-simulations or semi-analytical modelling.
For example, it is shown that some of the recently discovered compact
elliptical galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5 may be the bulges of modern disc galaxies.Comment: Condensed version (due to Contract) of an invited review article to
appear in "Planets, Stars and Stellar
Systems"(www.springer.com/astronomy/book/978-90-481-8818-5). 500+ references
incl. many somewhat forgotten, pioneer papers. Original submission to
Springer: 07-June-201
Growth and cellular differentiation: a physical-biochemical conundrum? The example of the hand
Currently, the predominant hypothesis explains cellular differentiation as an essentially genetic intracellular process. The goal of this paper is to suggest that cell growth and differentiation may be, simply, the result of physical and chemical constraints.Bone growth occurs at the level of cartilage conjunction (growth plate) in a zone of lesser constrain. It appears that this growth also induces muscle, tendon, nerve and skin elongation. This cartilage growth by itself seems to explain the elongation of the hand. Growth stops at puberty likely because of feed-back from an increasing muscle load. The ossification (that is differentiation of cartilage into bone) appears to result from the shear stress induced. The study of bone age, obtained by X-ray picture of the hand, shows that ossification of epiphyses is very precise both in time and space. Computer modelization suggests that this ossification occurs where shear stress is greatest. The cartilage which does not ossify (joint, nose, larynx, ear, bronchus, etc.) is not exposed to high shear.Shear stress induces the secretion of extracellular matrix and a change of the biochemical environment of the cell. Precipitation of calcium phosphate, as in ossification, seems related to the alkalosis induced by shear stress.To speak in more general terms, loss of cellular differentiation, as occurs with cancer, can result from a change in the physicalâchemical environments
Elliptical Galaxies and Bulges of Disk Galaxies: Summary of Progress and Outstanding Issues
This is the summary chapter of a review book on galaxy bulges. Bulge
properties and formation histories are more varied than those of ellipticals. I
emphasize two advances: 1 - "Classical bulges" are observationally
indistinguishable from ellipticals, and like them, are thought to form by major
galaxy mergers. "Disky pseudobulges" are diskier and more actively star-forming
(except in S0s) than are ellipticals. Theys are products of the slow
("secular") evolution of galaxy disks: bars and other nonaxisymmetries move
disk gas toward the center, where it starbursts and builds relatively flat,
rapidly rotating components. This secular evolution is a new area of galaxy
evolution work that complements hierarchical clustering. 2 - Disks of
high-redshift galaxies are unstable to the formation of mass clumps that sink
to the center and merge - an alternative channel for the formation of classical
bulges. I review successes and unsolved problems in the formation of
bulges+ellipticals and their coevolution (or not) with supermassive black
holes. I present an observer's perspective on simulations of dark matter galaxy
formation including baryons. I review how our picture of the quenching of star
formation is becoming general and secure at redshifts z < 1. The biggest
challenge is to produce realistic bulges+ellipticals and disks that overlap
over a factor of 10**3 in mass but that differ from each other as observed over
that whole range. Second, how does hierarchical clustering make so many giant,
bulgeless galaxies in field but not cluster environments? I argue that we rely
too much on AGN and star-formation feedback to solve these challenges.Comment: 46 pages, 10 postscript figures, accepted for publication in Galactic
Bulges, ed. E. Laurikainen, R. F. Peletier, & D. A. Gadotti (New York:
Springer), in press (2015
Retinoid Metabolism and Diabetes Mellitus
Retinoid acid is a metabolite of vitamin A and functions as an important factor in cell survival, differentiation and death. Most previous studies on retinoid metabolism have focused on its association with cancer, hematologic and dermatologic disorders. Given the special concern over the recent increase in the prevalence of diabetes worldwide, the role of retinoid metabolism on glucose metabolism and insulin resistance in the human body is of marked importance. Therefore, in this issue, we review the literature on the association of retinoid metabolism with glucose tolerance, with regard to insulin secretion, pancreatic autoimmunity, insulin sensitivity and lipid metabolism. Further, we tried to assess the possibility of using retinoids as a novel therapeutic strategy for diabetes
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