Vanadate in aqueous solution is known to influence a number of enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Such effects are well known to carry over to living systems where numerous responses to the influence of vanadium have been well-documented; perhaps the most studied being the insulin-mimetic effect. Studies of the aqueous chemistry of vanadate provide an insight into the mechanisms by which vanadate affe...

Decameric vanadate species (V10) inhibit the rate and the extent of G-actin polymerization with an IC50 of 68+/-22 microM and 17+/-2 microM, respectively, whilst they induce F-actin depolymerization at a lower extent. On contrary, no effect on actin polymerization and depolymerization was detected for 2mM concentration of "metavanadate" solution that contains ortho and metavanadate species, as ...

BACKGROUND Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a signalling phospholipid with multiple biological functions, mainly mediated through specific G protein-coupled receptors. Aberrant LPA signalling is being increasingly implicated in the pathology of common human diseases, such as arteriosclerosis and cancer. The lifetime of the signalling pool of LPA is controlled by the equilibrium between synthesizi...

Neonatal RBCs can undergo receptor-mediated endocytosis; normal adult RBCs cannot. Previously, we showed that drug-induced endocytosis, which can occur in adult RBCs exposed to amphipathic cations like primaquine, is greatly enhanced in all density-defined fractions of neonatal RBCs. To investigate the similarities and differences between receptor-mediated endocytosis and drug-induced endocytos...

Copper vanadate nanostructures were prepared via ex-situ precipitation approach in presence of Schiff-base ligand (N,N׳ -buthylenebis(acetylacetone iminato)dianion = acacbn) as a new capping agent. The effect of different Cu sources and pH on the size, morphology and size distribution of copper vanadate nanostructures was investigated. The as-prepared products were characterized using X-ray dif...

Triton X-100 (TX-100) extraction of Spiruplasnta citvi plasma membrane solubilized two types of ATPase differing in their pH of maximum activity. The activity measured at pH 8.5 was inhibited by vanadate and the activity measured at pH 6-5 was not. The vanadate-sensitive ATPase had a relatively basic isoelectric point (8.65) and therefore could be separated from the vanadate-insensitive ATPase ...

Sodium vanadate is an effective agent for the enrichment of yeast mutants with defects in glycosylation steps that occur in the Golgi complex (Ballou, L., Hitzeman, R. A., Lewis, M. S., and Ballou, C. E. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 88, 3209-3212). We isolated and screened vanadate-resistant glycosylation mutants in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to identify any that may...

Production of RBCs is triggered by the action of erythropoietin (Epo) through its binding to surface receptors (Epo-R) on erythroid precursors in the bone marrow. The intensity and the duration of the Epo signal are regulated by several factors, including the balance between the activities of kinesase and phosphatases. The Epo signal determines the proliferation and maturation of the precursors...

One of the specific inhibitors of calmodulin action, trifluoperazine, blocked the stimulating action of insulin on 2-deoxyglucose uptake and glucose metabolism. The inhibitory effect of insulin on lipolysis was not altered by the drug. The active (insulin-stimulated) state and the basal state of lipogenesis were inhibited half-maximally at 80 and 550 microM trifluoperazine, respectively. 2-Deox...

We have developed a method for permeabilizing axons and reactivating the fast transport of microscopically visible organelles. Saltatory movements of organelles in motor axons isolated from lobster walking legs were observed using Nomarski optics and time-lapse video microscopy. In the center of the axon most of the particles and mitochondria moved in the retrograde direction, but immediately b...