| 1. |
- Angerbjörn, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Predator-prey relationships : Arctic foxes and lemmings
- 1999
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Ingår i: Journal of Animal Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0021-8790 .- 1365-2656. ; 68:1, s. 34-49
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. The number of breeding dens and litter sizes of arctic foxes Alopex lagopus were recorded and the diet of the foxes was analysed during a ship-based expedition to 17 sites along the Siberian north coast. At the same time the cyclic dynamics of coexisting lemming species were examined. 2. The diet of arctic foxes was dominated by the Siberian lemming Lemmus sibiricus (on one site the Norwegian lemming L. lemmus), followed by the collared lemming Dicrostonyx torquatus. 3. The examined Lemmus sibiricus populations were in different phases of the lemming cycle as determined by age profiles and population densities. 4. The numerical response of arctic foxes to varying densities of Lemmus had a time lag of 1 year, producing a pattern of limit cycles in lemming-arctic fox interactions, Arctic fox litter sizes showed no time lag, but a linear relation to Lemmus densities. We found no evidence for a numerical response to population density changes in. Dicrostonyx. 5. The functional or dietary response of arctic foxes followed a type II curve for Lemmus, but a type III response curve for Dicrostonyx. 6. Arctic foxes act as resident specialist for Lemmus and may increase the amplitude and period of their population cycles. For Dicrostonyx, on the other hand, arctic foxes act as generalists which suggests a capacity to dampen oscillations.
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| 2. |
- Erlinge, David, et al.
(författare)
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Phenotype changes of the vascular smooth muscle cell regulate P2 receptor expression as measured by quantitative RT-PCR
- 1998
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Ingår i: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. - : Elsevier BV. - 1090-2104 .- 0006-291X. ; 248:3, s. 864-870
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies using selective agonists have suggested that the contractile effect of extracellular nucleotides, such as ATP and UTP, in blood vessels is mediated mainly by P2X1 receptors with a smaller contribution of P2Y receptors while the mitogenic effect is mediated by P2Y (P2Y1, P2Y2, P2Y4, and P2Y6) receptors with no effect of P2X1 receptors. This indicates a difference in P2 receptor expression between the contractile and the synthetic phenotype of the SMC. To measure the expression of mRNA for these receptors a competitive RT-PCR assay was developed that utilised synthetic RNA-competitors allowing determination of the number of mRNA copies for each receptor in the samples. In the synthetic phenotype the mitogenic P2Y1 and P2Y2 receptor transcripts were upregulated by 342- and 8-fold, respectively, while the contractile P2X1 receptor is totally downregulated and the P2Y4 and P2Y6 receptors were unchanged. This plasticity of the receptor expression may be important in the transition from the contractile to the synthetic SMC phenotype.
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