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- Olovsson, Matts, 1958-, et al.
(författare)
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Human uterine myocytes retain their energy charge with No gross alterations in morphology for at least 8 days when cultured under anaerobic conditions
- 2000
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Ingår i: Gynecologic and Obstetric Investigation. - : S. Karger AG. - 0378-7346 .- 1423-002X. ; 49:3, s. 165-169
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE:To investigate the ability of human uterine myocytes to grow under anaerobic conditions for a prolonged time period.METHODS:Cells were isolated from fundal myometrium and cultured until subconfluency. The cell type was confirmed by immunostaining for the smooth muscle cell-specific cytoskeletal proteins alpha-actin and desmin. Some cells were further cultured under aerobic conditions and others under anaerobic conditions. Cells were harvested after 0, 4 and 8 days in culture and analyzed for their content of adenylates.RESULTS:Immunostaining revealed that all three preparations contained almost only smooth muscle cells. Energy charge of the myocytes was 0.88 on average at the beginning of the culture experiment. A moderate decrease was noted on day 4 for myocytes grown under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions and no further decrease was noted between days 4 and 8. Morphologically the cells retained their normal appearance and they seemed healthy for at least 8 days in culture under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.CONCLUSIONS:The results of this study suggest that human myometrial cells can survive for an extended period of time under in vitro conditions regardless of oxygen availability for energy metabolism. This means that anaerobic energy metabolism is enough to sustain vital processes during that period of time.
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| 4. |
- Stark, Katarina, et al.
(författare)
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Expression of CYP4F12 in gastrointestinal and urogenital epithelia
- 2004
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Ingår i: Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology. - : Wiley. - 1742-7835 .- 1742-7843. ; 94:4, s. 177-83
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Cytochrome P450 4F12 (CYP4F12) was originally cloned from human liver and small intestine. CYP4F12 can oxidize arachidonic acid, two stable prostaglandin H2 analogues, and an antihistamine, ebastine, but the tissue distribution and catalytic properties of CYP4F12 have not been fully investigated. An antipeptide polyclonal antibody was raised against the C-terminal of CYP4F12 (PLNVGLQ), evaluated by Western blot analysis and used for immunohistological analysis of 50 human tissues. Western blot analysis of recombinant CYP4F12, expressed in yeast, and microsomal proteins from adult and foetal liver, kidney, placenta at term, seminal vesicles, the prostate gland and purified prostasomes showed that the polyclonal antibody detected a protein of the expected size, approximately 60 kDa. CYP4F12 mRNA could be detected in seminal vesicles and prostate gland by reverse transcription-PCR. Prominent CYP4F12 immunoreactivity occurred, inter alia, in the epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract (stomach, small intestine, and colon), collecting tubules, transitional epithelium, ovarian follicles, the endothelium of microvessels of placental villi (first trimester), and epidermis. We screened recombinant CYP4F12 for catalytic activity. Arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) was hydroxylated at C18 and laurate at C11, but significant amounts of metabolites of 18:2n-6, 20:3n-9, 20:5n-3, 22:5n-6, and some prostaglandins could not be detected. We conclude that CYP4F12 is widely distributed in gastrointestinal and urogenital epithelia and exhibits a narrow substrate specificity.
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- Vårdal, Hege, 1972-
(författare)
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From Parasitoids to Gall Inducers and Inquilines : Morphological Evolution in Cynipoid Wasps
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- One of the large lineages of parasitic wasps, the Cynipoidea, exhibits three distinctly different life modes. Slightly more than half of the about 3000 species are parasitoids in insect larvae, whereas the remaining species are associated with plants, either as gall inducers or as inquilines (guests feeding on plant tissue in galls). The main focus of this thesis has been to identify morphological changes associated with the shifts between life modes. Particular attention was paid to structures believed to be important in gall initiation. Comparative anatomical studies of the egg, larva and venom apparatus were performed, including representatives of parasitoids, gall inducers and inquilines. Examination of gross morphology and ultrastructure revealed that the eggs of the gall inducers are larger and surrounded by a thicker shell than the parasitoid eggs. These differences may be related to the fact that the gall inducer egg contains sufficient egg yolk for the embryo during the entire egg period, whereas the parasitoid egg often absorbs nutrients through the eggshell. Furthermore, the gall inducer egg is probably more exposed to desiccation and therefore a thicker and more resistant eggshell is crucial. Comparing the terminal-instar larvae of about 30 species of parasitoids, gall inducers and inquilines, extensive morphological variation was found, particularly in the head and mouthpart features. The variation was summarized in 33 morphological and one life-history character and parsimony analyses were performed. The resulting phylogenetic estimates were largely in accordance with previous analyses of adult morphology and molecular data. The larval data point to a single origin of the inquilines, in agreement with adult morphology but in conflict with molecular data. The venom apparatus was found to be quite uniform in structure among a sample of 25 species of cynipoid species. It consists of a very short venom duct, a reservoir and a single unbranched venom gland. With few exceptions, the venom apparatus is conspicuously larger relative to the female metasoma in the gall inhabiting species than in the parasitoids. We found little evidence of anatomical structures that could facilitate chemical communication between the gall-inducer embryo and the surrounding plant tissue through the thick eggshell. On the other hand, the enormous venom glands and reservoirs, which are apparently not used for defence, suggest that the adult female plays a significant role in gall induction by injecting secretions into the host plant when laying eggs.
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| 6. |
- Vårdal, Hege, et al.
(författare)
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Morphology and evolution of the cynipoid egg (Hymenoptera)
- 2003
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Ingår i: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. - London : Blackwell Publishing. - 0024-4082 .- 1096-3642. ; 139:2, s. 247-260
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We describe gross egg morphology and provide the first data on eggshell ultrastructure in cynipoids (Hymenoptera) based on species representing three distinctly different life histories: internal parasitoids of endopterygote larvae, gall inducers and phytophagous inquilines (guests in galls). We then use existing phylogenetic hypotheses to identify putative changes in egg structure associated with evolutionary life-history transitions. We find four major structural changes associated with the shift from parasitoids laying their eggs inside a host larva to gall inducers laying their eggs in or on plants: (1) from a narrow and gradually tapering gross form to a distinct division into a stout body and a long and thin stalk; (2) from a thin to a thick eggshell; (3) from a flexible to a rigid endochorion; and (4) from crystal bundles with shifting orientation in the exochorion to layers of parallel crystal rods. By contrast, we find no major changes in egg structure associated with the transition from gall inducers to inquilines. Comparison between pre- and post-oviposition eggs of one gall inducer and one inquiline suggests that mechanical stress during the passage through the egg canal gives rise to numerous tiny stress fractures in the boundary separating the exo- and endochorion. In one of the gall inducers, Diplolepis rosae, that end of the egg, which is inserted into the plant, has a specialized and apparently porous shell that may permit chemical exchange between the embryo and the plant. Other structures that could facilitate chemical communication with the host plant through the eggshell were, however, not observed in the eggs of gall inhabitants.
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