In this paper, we summarise studies which have been carried out on the metabolism of nucleic acids (maternal RNA, DNA, nucleolytic enzymes) in avian oocytes and embryos (Japanese quail, Coturnix coturnix japonica ) within the last 10 years in the Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The accumulation of maternal RNA in the quail oocyte during oogenesis is ...

Mammalian circadian rhythms are controlled by a master pacemaker located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), which is synchronized to the environment by photic and nonphotic stimuli. One of the main functions of the SCN is to regulate peripheral oscillators to set temporal variations in the homeostatic control of physiology and metabolism. In this sense, the SCN coordinate the activity/rest an...

Arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (aaNAT) catalyzes the transacetylation from acetyl-CoA to arylalkylamines. aaNATs are involved in sclerotization and neurotransmitter inactivation in insects. Phyletic distribution analysis confirms three clusters of aaNAT-like sequences in insects: typical insect aaNAT, polyamine NAT-like aaNAT, and mosquito unique putative aaNAT (paaNAT). Here we studied thr...

Objective. To determine the predictive value of genetic polymorphism N-arylacetyltransferase-2 (NAT-2) gene for assessing risk postoperative adhesive intestinal obstruction in children. Methods. In all children (36 with (main group) and 35 planned patients (comparative group)) acetylation genotype was studied by detecting point mutations NAT-2 using allele-specific amplification method analysis...

The retina is a key component of the vertebrate circadian system; it is responsible for detecting and transmitting the environmental illumination conditions (day/night cycles) to the brain that synchronize the circadian clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). For this, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) project to the SCN and other nonvisual areas. In the chicken, intrinsically photosens...

The circadian rhythms of many behavioral and physiological functions are regulated by the major circadian pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Long-term opiate addiction and drug withdrawal may affect circadian rhythmicity of various hormones or the sleep/activity pattern of many experimental subjects; however, limited research has been done on the long-term effects of sustained opiate adm...

Previous studies have demonstrated that berberine decreases N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity in human leukemia HL-60 cells, however, NAT gene expression has not been investigated. In this study, berberine was selected for testing the inhibition of N-acetylation of 2-aminofluorene (AF) and NAT gene expression in human HL-60 cells. The N-acetylation of AF was determined and quantitated by high ...

The human NAT1 gene has nine exons. The coding region is located in exon 9 and spans 870 bp. Diverse NAT1 transcripts have been reported and two promoters exist. The first promoter, designated as P1 is located in the 5' flanking region of exon 1 and controls two major (a1 and a2) transcripts. The second promoter is located upstream of exon 4 and give rise to at least five (b1 to b5) different t...