BACKGROUND The aim of our experimental work was to assess morphological changes of arterial wall that arise during different thawing protocols of a cryopreserved human aortic root allograft (CHARA) arterial wall. METHODS The experiment was performed on CHARAs. Two thawing protocols were tested: 1, CHARAs were thawed at a room temperature at +23°C; 2, CHARAs were placed directly into a water b...

Recently discovered reactions allow the green alga Chara corallina (Klien ex. Willd., em. R.D.W.) to grow well without the benefit of xyloglucan or rhamnogalactan II in its cell wall. Growth rates are controlled by polygalacturonic acid (pectate) bound with calcium in the primary wall, and the reactions remove calcium from these bonds when new pectate is supplied. The removal appears to occur p...

Various investigations have suggested that cytoplasmic streaming in characean algae is driven by interaction between subcortical actin bundles and endoplasmic myosin. To further test this hypothesis, we have perfused cytotoxic actin-binding drugs and fluorescent actin labels into the cytoplasm of streaming Chara cells. Confirming earlier work, we find that cytochalasin B (CB) reversibly inhibit...

Charophytes (Charales) are benthic algae with a complex morphology. They are vulnerable to ecosystem changes, such as eutrophication, and are red-listed in many countries. Accurate identification of Chara species is critical for understanding their diversity and for documenting changes in species distribution. Species delineation is, however, complicated, because of high phenotypic plasticity. ...

The contribution of proteases in the central vacuole of Chara corallina internodal cells to overall cellular protein degradation was examined. I measured the decrease in the trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-precipitable radioactivity in the cell for a 6-d chase period after labeling cellular proteins with [3H]leucine. The kinetics of [3H]leucine-labeled protein disappearance showed that the half-life...

Kinetic investigations of stimulus response coupling in the green alga Chara have revealed that an intermediate second messenger is formed in the process of membrane excitation. This second messenger links electrical stimulation to the mobilization of Ca from internal stores. In the present work, the experimentally based kinetic model, which describes the stimulus-dependent production of the se...