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- Yu, Ling-Zhu, et al.
(författare)
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MEK1/2 regulates microtubule organization, spindle pole tethering and asymmetric division during mouse oocyte meiotic maturation.
- 2007
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Ingår i: Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.). - 1551-4005. ; 6:3, s. 330-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is well known that MAPK plays pivotal roles in oocyte maturation, but the function of MEK (MAPK kinase) remains unknown. We have studied the expression, subcellular localization and functional roles of MEK during meiotic maturation of mouse oocytes. Firstly, we found that MEK1/2 phoshorylation (p-MEK1/2, indicative of MEK activation) was low in GV (germinal vesicle) stage, increased 2h after GVBD (germinal vesicle breakdown), and reached the maximum at metaphase II. Secondly, we found that P-MEK1/2 was restricted in the GV prior to GVBD. In prometaphase I and metaphase I, P-MEK1/2 was mainly associated with the spindle, especially with the spindle poles. At anaphase I and telophase I, p-MEK1/2 became diffusely distributed in the region between the separating chromosomes, and then became associated with the midbody. The association of p-MEK1/2 with spindle poles was further confirmed by its colocalization with the centrosomal proteins, gamma-tubulin and NuMA. Thirdly, we have investigated the possible functional role of MEK1/2 activation by intravenous administration and intrabursal injection of a specific MEK inhibitor, U0126, and by microinjection of MEK siRNA into oocytes. All these manipulations cause disorganized spindle poles and spindle structure, misaligned chromosomes and larger than normal polar bodies. Our results suggest that MEK1/2 may function as a centrosomal protein and may have roles in microtubule organization, spindle pole tethering and asymmetric division during mouse oocyte maturation.
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| 2. |
- Zhao, Guang-Jiu, et al.
(författare)
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Photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer and S-2 fluorescence in thiophene-pi-conjugated donor-acceptor systems : Experimental and TDDFT studies
- 2008
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Ingår i: Chemistry - A European Journal. - : Wiley. - 0947-6539 .- 1521-3765. ; 14:23, s. 6935-6947
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Experimental and theoretical methods were used to study newly synthesized thiophene-pi-cojugated donor-acceptor compounds, which were found to exhibit efficient intramolecular charge-transfer emission in polar solvents with relatively large Stokes shifts and strong solvatochromism. To gain insight into the solvatochromic behavior of these compounds, the dependence of the spectra on solvent polarity was studied on the basis of Lippert-Mataga models. We found that intramolecular charge transfer in these donor-acceptor systems is significantly dependent on the electron-with-drawing substituents at the thienyl 2-position. The dependence of the absorption and emission spectra of these compounds in methanol on the concentration of trifluoroacetic acid was used to confirm intramolecular charge-tranfer emission. Moreover, the calculated absorption and emission energies, which are in accordance with the experimental values, suggested that fluorescence can be emitted from different geometric confirmations. In addition, a novel S-2 fluorescence phenomenon for some of these compounds was also be observed. The fluorescence excitation spectra were used to confirm the S-2 fluorescence. We demonstrate that S-2 fluorescence can be explained by the calculated energy gap between the S-2 and S-1 states of these molecules. Furthermore, nonlinear optical behavior of the thiophene-pi-conjugated compound with diethylcyanomethylphosphonate substituents was predicted in theory.
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