Femur-derived osteoblasts cultured from rat femora were loaded with Fluo-3 using the AM ester. A quantifiable stretch was applied and [Ca(2+)]i levels monitored by analysis of fluorescent images obtained using an inverted microscope and laser scanning confocal imaging system. Application of a single pulse of tensile strain via an expandable membrane resulted in immediate increase in [Ca(2+)]i i...

When a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae monosomic for chromosome I and initially deficient for 25% of the genes coding for ribosomal RNA is repeatedly subcultured, the number of these genes increases to and remains stable at the number in the wild type. This strain shows 2:2; viable: inviable first division segregation and hemizygosity for the ade1 gene (a chromosome I marker), evidence that ...

background: re-emergence of pertussis has been reported in iran despite a high rate of vaccination coverage. low efficacy of the vaccine might be due to the genetic divergence between clinical versus vaccine strains. in the current study, the genetic profiles of clinical isolates and vaccine strains of bordetella pertussis (b. pertussis) were assessed by using pulsed field gel electrophoresis (...

Purification of extra-cellular cellulolytic enzymes from C e l l u l o mssp. strain 0, isolated from forest soil in the north of Iran , was studied by using gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. Two endo-glucanases (Endo-I & Endo-II) and one exo-glucanase (Exo-I) were purified to hornogenity . The purified enzymes had molecular weights of about 39.000,70.000 and 90.000 daltons for ...

THE EFFECTS OF RAPID STRETCH INJURY ON RAT NEOCORTICAL CULTURES by George Constandinos Magou Several key biological mechanisms of traumatic injury to axons have been elucidated using in vitro stretch injury models. These models, however, are based on the experimentation of single cultures keeping productivity slow. Indeed, low yield has hindered important and well founded investigations requiri...

We investigated the possibility of Ca(2+) signaling in cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) by measuring intracellular free Ca(2+) levels ([Ca(2+)](i)) in a recombinant strain of the nitrogen fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena strain sp. PCC7120, which constitutively expresses the Ca(2+)-binding photoprotein apoaequorin. The homeostasis of intracellular Ca(2+) in response to increasing external Ca(2+) ...

A classic in vitro model of renal cyst and tubule formation utilizes the Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell line, of which two strains exist. Most cyst and tubule formation studies that utilized MDCK cells have been performed with MDCK strain II cells. MDCK strain II cells form hollow cysts in a three-dimensional collagen matrix over 10 days and tubulate in response to hepatocyte growth fact...