The influence of sulphur (S) depletion on the expression of genes related to S metabolism, and on metabolite and plant hormone contents was analysed in young and mature leaves, fine roots, xylem sap, and phloem exudates of poplar (Populus tremula×Populus alba) with special focus on early consequences. S depletion was applied by a gradual decrease of sulphate availability. The observed changes w...

The mechanism behind the adjuvant effect of aluminum salts is poorly understood notwithstanding that aluminum salts have been used for decades in clinical vaccines. In an aqueous environment and at a nearly neutral pH, the aluminum salts form particulate aggregates, and one plausible explanation of the lack of information regarding the mechanisms could be the absence of an efficient method of t...

Heparan sulphate proteoglycans have been implicated in the binding and presentation of several growth factors to their receptors, thereby regulating cellular growth and differentiation. To investigate the role of heparan sulphate proteoglycans in mouse spinal neurulation, we administered chlorate, a competitive inhibitor of glycosaminoglycan sulphation, to cultured E8.5 embryos. Treated embryos...

Pretreatment methods for measuring stable sulphur (δ(34)S) and oxygen (δ(18)O) isotope ratios of dissolved sulphate from watersheds have evolved throughout the last few decades. The current study evaluated if there are differences in the measured stable S and O isotope values of dissolved sulphate from forested watersheds when pretreated using three different methods: Method 1 (M1): adsorb sulp...

BACKGROUND Animal studies have shown that neuroactive steroids modulate the activity of the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A/benzodiazepine receptor complex and that these steroids display anxiolytic or anxiogenic activity depending on their positive (e.g. allopregnanolone) or negative allosteric modulation (e.g. dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate) of this receptor. This study compared plasma levels...

Receptor-mediated endocytosis of decorin depends on its core-protein-mediated interaction with a 51 kDa membrane protein, which, in addition to its core-protein-binding site, carries a binding site for glycosaminoglycan chains. Membrane-associated heparan sulphate as well as heparin are known to have an inhibitory effect on decorin endocytosis by cultured skin fibroblasts. In this study, struct...

It has been reported that the disaccharide composition of dermatan sulphate shows transient changes after epicutaneous application of the hapten 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene to mouse skin, and that these changes are most conspicuous in healing skin on day 15 after chemical insult [Kuwaba, Nomura, Irie and Koyama (1999) J. Dermatol. Sci. 19, 23-30]. In the present study it was found that the molecul...

INTRODUCTION Vanadium compounds are insulin like drugs which are accompanied with nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity as their major side effects. Aerobic exercise is well known as an approach to reduce the side effects of many drugs. OBJECTIVES This study was designed to determine the role of aerobic exercise against vanadyl sulphate induced nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity in male rats. MA...

Proteoglycans of 300 000 mol.wt. were isolated from dispersed rat basophil tumour cells after labelling of the sulphated mucopolysaccharides with 35S in vitro:90% of the 35S-labelled mucopolysaccharides were extracted at high salt concentration. Alkali degradation of the 35S-labelled proteoglycans yielded glycosaminoglycan chains of 40 000 mol.wt. The composition of the salt-extracted 35S-label...