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Articles
Below is this issue's table of contents. Click the link near the article to
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Contents
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Caenorhabditis elegans Models of CAG Trinucleotide Repeat
Diseases - by Mikhail Palietov [Abstract]
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Gender Differences in Cellular Response -
by Martina Milcevic [Abstract]
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Genetic Analysis of Double Stranded DNA Repair
by Mark Chua [Abstract]
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Mercaptoacetate Induces Feeding Through Central
Opiod-Mediated Mechanisms in Rats - by Vladimir Znamensky [Abstract]
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Modulation of Cellular Activation by L-Arginine:
Effects on Cell Morphology and Adhesion - by Jose Murga [Abstract]
- Simulating Gravitational Systems in Real-Time: Using Choose-Two
Combinatory Linked List Techniques - by Daniel Pirón [Abstract]
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Use of Genetic Mutants to Study Light Signal
Transduction in Arabidopsis thaliana L. - by Marcelo Taborga [Abstract]
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Caenorhabditis elegans Models of CAG Trinucleotide Repeat
Diseases
- Mikhail Paltielov
Abstract:
An expanded region of CAG trinucleotide repeats in various genes has been found to be
the ultimate cause of a number of neurodegenerative disorders. These disorders, of which
Huntington's Disease (HD) is the best known, share similarities in clinical, genetic, and
molecular features, suggesting a common mechanism of pathogenesis. Recent data suggests that
expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) tract in the proteins is the causality of the disorders. However,
little is known of the mechanism of its action. To address the mechanism of polyglutamine-
mediated neurodegeneration, one of the aims of our laboratory is to generate transgenic
Caenorhabditis elegans lines expressing polyQ of pathogenic and nonpathogenic lengths in
nerve cells. Appropriate C. elegans models of CAG trinucleotide repeat disorders can provide
invaluable insights and resources for studying the disease mechanisms underlying triplet-repeat
disorders and will be useful for screening and evaluating possible therapeutic strategies.
[Read]
[Top]
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Gender Differences in Cellular Response
- Martina Milcevic
Abstract:
Autoimmune and other diseases frequently manifest a sexual discordance that
cannot be explained by hormonal differences. To examine if this disparity
has a genetic basis, we have tested male and female cells devoid of hormonal
differences in response to challenges. Cell responsiveness in mouse
embryonic cells from heart, brain, and liver was assessed by cell survival.
The results show that female cells show more sensitivity, thus indicating
differential behavior between male and female cells in cellular response,
which may be a result of the different biological make-up of the cells with
respect to gender.
[Read]
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Genetic Analysis of Double Strand DNA Repair
- Mark Chua
Abstract:
Damage to both strands of double-stranded DNA is difficult to repair
because there is no complementary strand to copy from. Double strand breaks
can be repaired by homologous recombination or end ligation. We have
introduced a plasmid containing a double strand break into Saccharomyces
cerevisiae (baker's yeast) to evaluate double strand DNA repair.
[Read]
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Mercaptoacetate Induces Feeding Through Central
Opiod-Mediated Mechanisms in Rats - Vladimir Znamensky
Abstract:
The endogenous opioid system has been implicated in the mediation of food intake elicited by such regulatory challenges as glucoprivation induced by 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) or food deprivation in rodents. Administration of the free fatty acid oxidation inhibitor, mercaptoacetate (MA), produces a potent short-term increase in feeding in rats, the mechanisms of which have been dissociated from that elicited by 2DG. The present study evaluated whether MA-induced feeding in rats was mediated by the endogenous opioid system through central administration of either general, m
, m
1, k
1 or d
opioid antagonists. MA-induced feeding was significantly reduced by central pretreatment with either naltrexone (0.1-20 µg), the m
-selective antagonist, b
-funaltrexamine (0.1-20 µg), the m
1-selective antagonist, naloxonazine (1-20 µg), the k
1-selective antagonist, nor-binaltorphamine (0.1-20 µg), or the d
-selective antagonist, naltrindole (1-20 µg).
[Read]
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Modulation of Cellular Activation by L-Arginine:
Effects on Cell Morphology and Adhesion. - Jose Murga
Abstract:
Monocytes are derived from the bone marrow and contribute to the regulation
of the immune response, help in the phagocytosis of invading pathogens and
assist in the activation of other inflammatory cells such as
B- / T-lymphocytes and natural killer cells. This experiment recorded the
effects of short-term and long-term exposure to L-ARG, shown to be a
regulator of NO-mediated pathways, hypothesized to influence monocyte
activation.
[Read]
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Simulating Gravitational Systems in Real-Time: Using
Choose-Two Combinatory Linked List Techniques - Daniel Pirón
Abstract:
Description of data structuring techniques for an application that simulates and
graphically represents a solar system with any given number of celestial bodies, with
variable mass, size, and speed. The application will be real-time, which means that the
user will be able to see the effects that each celestial body has on the others as the
computer calculates the gravitational forces. If planets collide they will shatter into
smaller chunks, and if a collision involves a star, the smaller body will be absorbed into
the larger.
[Read]
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Use of Genetic Mutants to Study Light Signal
Transduction in Arabidopsis thaliana L.
- Marcello Taborga
Abstract:
Seedlings produced from isolated mutant samples of the model plant Arabidopsis
thaliana L are assessed for unusual growth patterns in order to clarify how signal transduction
pathways associate photoreceptors to cellular and developmental responses in young seedlings.
Characterization of recently isolated mutants deficient in light-regulated and sucrose-dependent
anthocyanin and chlorophyll synthesis determined that the strain N4241 demonstrates low
production of chlorophyll after a three-day exposure to far red light. The strain also displayed
low levels of anthocyanin production when grown in agar gels that contained 1% and 4%
sucrose. It has also been determined that strain N4237 produces high levels of chlorophyll when
exposed to far red light for a period of three days.
[Read]
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