Phototransduction in the Drosophila retina appears to require the phosphoinositide signaling cascade following receptor/G-protein activation. Subsequent opening of membrane cationic channels causes excitation. The biochemical events underlying channel opening and regulation of sensitivity remain largely unknown. Evidence is mounting that phototransduction in Drosophila and other invertebrate sp...

RATIONALE We have shown recently that particulate (pGC) and soluble guanylyl (sGC) cyclases synthesize cGMP in different compartments in adult rat ventricular myocytes (ARVMs). OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) exerts a feedback control on cGMP concentration contributing to its intracellular compartmentation. METHODS AND RESULTS Global cGMP levels, cGMP-phos...

Rationale: We have shown recently that particulate (pGC) and soluble guanylyl (sGC) cyclases synthesize cGMP in different compartments in adult rat ventricular myocytes (ARVMs). Objective: We hypothesized that cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) exerts a feedback control on cGMP concentration contributing to its intracellular compartmentation. Methods and Results: Global cGMP levels, cGMP-phosp...

Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) is an important signaling molecule and drug target in the cardiovascular system. It is well known that stimulation of the vascular nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP pathway results in vasodilation. However, the spatiotemporal dynamics of cGMP signals themselves and the cGMP concentrations within specific cardiovascular cell types in health, disease, and during pharmac...

In previous immunohistochemical studies, it has been found that all nuclei contain cyclic (c)GMP, which occurs in discrete aggregates and in the nucleolus. We have studied the nature of the cGMP aggregates in isolated mouse fetal nuclei using a specific immunofluorescent technique. These aggregates correspond to the areas of condensation of DNA, demonstrable by either Felugen's or acridine oran...

Increasing evidence suggests that endothelial cytotoxicity from reactive oxygen species (ROS) contributes to the pathogenesis of acute lung injury. Treatments designed to increase intracellular cGMP attenuate ROS-mediated apoptosis and necrosis in several cell types, but the mechanisms are not understood, and the effect of cGMP on pulmonary endothelial cell death remains controversial. In the c...

Cyclic GMP (cGMP) is the intracellular messenger that mediates phototransduction in retinal rods. As photoisomerizations of rhodopsin molecules are local events, the longitudinal diffusion of cGMP in the rod outer segment should be a contributing factor to the response of the cell to light. We have employed the truncated rod outer segment preparation from bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) and tiger s...

the fruit set rate and yield of pear are commonly low due to insufficient pollination, as the species is unattractive to honeybees. to improve honeybee foraging behavior for the pollination of dangshan pear (pyrus bretschneideri cv. dangshansuli), nine methods were used to attract bees. a control treatment of colonies was fed with normal sugar syrup, while six other treatments were fed using su...

Nitric oxide (NO) functions as a diffusible messenger in the central nervous system and elsewhere, exerting many of it physiological effects by activating soluble guanylyl cyclase, so increasing cellular cGMP levels. Hydrolysis of cyclic nucleotides is achieved by phosphodiesterases (PDEs) but the enzyme isoforms responsible for degrading cGMP in most cells have not been identified. We have dev...

Photolabile compounds which rapidly release cAMP or cGMP after photolysis are widely used for in situ studies of signaling pathways inside cells. We synthesized two novel caged compounds, 4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrobenzyl 8-Br-cAMP (caged 8-Br-cAMP) and 4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrobenzyl 8-Br-cGMP caged 8-BR-cGMP), which respectively release the hydrolysis-resistant analogues 8-Br-cAMP and 8-Br-cGMP. Their ...