Cholesterol is an essential component of metazoan cellular membranes and it helps to maintain the structural integrity and fluidity of the plasma membrane. Here, we developed a cholesterol biosensor, termed D4H, based on the fourth domain of Clostridium perfringens theta-toxin, which recognizes cholesterol in the cytosolic leaflet of the plasma membrane and organelles. The D4H probe disassociat...

Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) NON-RACE-SPECIFIC DISEASE RESISTANCE1 (NDR1), a plasma membrane-localized protein, plays an essential role in resistance mediated by the coiled-coil-nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat class of resistance (R) proteins, which includes RESISTANCE TO PSEUDOMONAS SYRINGAE2 (RPS2), RESISTANCE TO PSEUDOMONAS SYRINGAE PV MACULICOLA1, and RPS5. Infection with ...

The aim of this study was to develop and to test the standardized aseptic technology of permeable cryoprotectant-free vitrification of human spermatozoa in capillaries (for intracytoplasmic sperm injection [ICSI] or in vitro fertilization [IVF]). To test the effect of vitrification on basic sperm parameters, each of 68 swim-up-prepared ejaculates from oligo-astheno-terato-zoospermic patien...

The influence of different extender osmolality levels and the presence of different cryoprotectants on the postthawed semen’s characteristics and post-thawed plasma membrane integrity of ram spermatozoa were studied. Ram semen was frozen with TRIS-egg yolk based extender according to two-step dilution procedures. The final concentrations of the cryoprotectants: 6% glycerol, 6% 1,2propanediol, 6...

The unexpected enhancement of alkalinee phosphatase (ALP) activity in the serum of a group of STZ-diabetic rats recieving the Teucrium polium extract (with hypoglycaemic property) may be attributed to its probable side effects. In order to get a more precise knowledge about this subject, we evaluated the effect of T. polium extract on the plasma membrane ALP activity of K562 cell line. Our data...

The present study was conducted to find the effect of three heavy metals, Ag, Hg and Pb on the expression level of a gene encoding plasma membrane H+-ATPase in Aeluropus littoralis. The experiment was laid out in a completely random design with three replications. The expression of the main gene was normalized to the expression of the housekeeping gene actin. Two 259 and 187 bp fragments were a...

the present study was conducted to find the effect of three heavy metals, ag, hg and pb on the expression level of a gene encoding plasma membrane h+-atpase in aeluropus littoralis. the experiment was laid out in a completely random design with three replications. the expression of the main gene was normalized to the expression of the housekeeping gene actin. two 259 and 187 bp fragments were a...

Pre-treatment of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) with fresh human plasma enhances its haemolytic (HL) capacity by several factors. The effect is due to complement activation by the heterophile anti-chick antibody present in human plasma. All the adult human plasmas tested were effective, also 91/100 human cord blood sera. The antibody was mainly of the IgM class. The enhanced HL was due to integr...

Artificial insemination via cooled or frozen-shipped semen allows more mares to be bred to a single stallion, but not all stallions produce semen capable of withstanding the cooling and freezing procedures. Aurich et al. (1996) estimated that cooled or frozen-shipped semen achieves < 75% of the pregnancy rates achieved with fresh semen. Some factors affecting the fertility rates of thawed semen...