Crystal self-organization in microclines from granitic pegmatites

Microclines from granitic pegmatites are complex crystals formed in evolutionary open systems during the subsolidus stage. Si/Al ordering governed by local charge distribution acts in synergy with long-range elastic interactions, producing transformation avalanches due to positive feedback relationship between the two forces. Global crystal self-organization results if atomic ordering is catalyzed by water species and simultaneously lattice is stimulated by shear stress. In this case, coalescence or juxtaposition of transformation avalanches evolve into regular pseudoperiodic twin-domain patterns.Peer Reviewe

Characterization and regulation of the angiotensin II type-1 receptor (binding and mRNA) in human adrenal fasciculata-reticularis cells.

The classical concept of human adrenal physiology indicates that only glomerulosa cells are the target of A-II. Herein, we demonstrated that cultured human adrenal fasciculata-reticularis cells were also responsive to this hormone. Indeed, these cells contained high affinity (Kd = 0.9-1.1 nM) and low capacity (8,000-13,000 sites/cell) A-II receptors, and more than 95% of them were of the type-1. These AT1 receptors are functional since A-II was able to increase cortisol production after 48 h of treatment. These effects were inhibited by losartan, an AT1 antagonist, but not by CGP42112A, an AT2 antagonist. The expression of the type-1 A-II receptor mRNA was detected in the whole adrenal in both adult and fetus, and in cultured human adrenal fasciculata-reticularis cells. In these cells A-II negatively regulated AT1 receptor mRNA, and this effect was also mediated through the AT1 receptor subtype

Identification and expression of the cDNA of KIN17, a zinc-finger gene located on mouse chromosome 2, encoding a new DNA-binding protein.

We report the cloning of KIN17 cDNA, 1414 bp long with an ORF of 391 residues showing a zinc finger and nuclear localization signals. By recloning the cDNA into an appropriate vector, we produced kin17 protein in E. coli, purified it partially and shown that kin17 protein binds to double-stranded DNA. The KIN17 gene was localized by cytogenetic mapping in mouse chromosome 2, band A. Genomic sequences homologous to KIN17 cDNA were detected also in rat and human DNAs. KIN17 mRNA is highly expressed in rodent transformed AtT-20 neuroendocrine cells whereas it can be detected only in the total RNA of mouse embryos and various normal adult tissues by reverse transcription and PCR amplification. The mouse nuclear kin17 protein was identified by a local small structural similarity with E.coli recA protein. Kin17 and recA have only 39 amino acid residues in a region that might be involved in DNA-binding