Asterinid sea-stars represent a cosmopolitan element of the world s shallow marine invertebrate communities. Asterinids are typically pentagonal or stellate in form, with flat ventral surfaces adapted for clinging to hard substrates (Clark and Downey, 1992). Clark (1993) listed 18 genera and 117 species of the Asterinidae worldwide. Rowe and Gates (1995) listed eight genera and 37 species of as...

This study aimed to elucidate anti-inflammatory activities from extracts of Asterina pectinifera on nitric oxide (NO) production, TNF-α and IL-6 release in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) -stimulated murine macrophage cell, RAW264.7. We prepared the methanolic extracts (60-MAP, 70-MAP, 80-MAP and 90-MAP) , aqueous extract (W-AP) and functional bioactive compound fraction (He-AP and EA-AP) from Asterin...

Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com system. Immunocytochemical positive reactions were observed in 1973 in the sea star Asterina gibbosa (Asterid, Echinoderm) after injections of various proteins [1]. It seemed interesting to look for similar reactions in the Ophuirid: Ophiocomina nigra (another echinoderm) which possesses also an axial organ. The sea star axial organ, an ancestral ly...

We show that the super D3-brane action on AdS5 × S background recently constructed by Metsaev and Tseytlin is exactly invariant under the combination of the electric-magnetic duality transformation of the worldvolume gauge field and the SO(2) rotaion of N = 2 spinor coordinates. The action is shown to satisfy the Gaillard-Zumino duality condition, which is a necessary and sufficient condition f...

Two polyhydroxysteroids and three steroidal saponins (pectiniosides A, B and C) were isolated as bioactive substances from Asterina pectinifera. These compounds inhibited the release of guinea-pig skin stratum corneum cells by 48-67% (control, 0%) at 2 mg/ml. It is suggested that the bioactivity of these compounds is connected with the remedial and preventive effects of an aqueous extract of A....

Upon a surface inclined at angle alpha Asterina gibbosa orients upward during negatively geotropic creeping until the average angle (theta) of the path is such that Delta sin theta/Delta sin alpha = const. This is true also in positively geotropic movement. The direction of orientation may be temporarily reversed by mechanical disturbance. The variation of theta is greater at low slopes. Tests ...

Hatching enzyme is a protease which can degrade the membrane of egg. In this study, a hatching enzyme was purified from starfish (Asterina pectinifera) with 6.34 fold of purification rate, 5.04 % of yield, and 73.87 U/mg of specific activity. The molecular weight of starfish hatching enzyme was 86 kDa, which was reduced to 62 kDa after removal of N-linked oligosaccharides. The optimal pH and te...