Search results for "Prague"
showing 10 items of 652 documents
Fasting enhances the response of arcuate neuropeptide Y-glucose-inhibited neurons to decreased extracellular glucose
2009
0363-6143 (Print) Comparative Study In Vitro Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Fasting increases neuropeptide Y (NPY) expression, peptide levels, and the excitability of NPY-expressing neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate (ARC) nucleus. A subpopulation of ARC-NPY neurons ( approximately 40%) are glucose-inhibited (GI)-type glucose-sensing neurons. Hence, they depolarize in response to decreased glucose. Because fasting enhances NPY neurotransmission, we propose that during fasting, GI neurons depolarize in response to smaller decreases in glucose. This increased excitation in response to glucose decreases would increase NPY-GI neuronal excitability and enhance NPY neurotr…
Endogenous nitric oxide inhibits leukotriene B4 release from rat alveolar macrophages
1997
Effects of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) on the release of mediators of the lipoxygenase and cyclo-oxygenase pathway from rat alveolar macrophages were studied. Alveolar macrophages, freshly isolated or after 18-h culture, were incubated in (amino acid-free) Krebs medium and labelled with [3H]arachidonic acid. The release of [3H]leukotriene B4 and [3H]prostanoids (separated by high performance liquid chromatography) was determined. A 23187 was used as stimulus, as rising intracellular Ca2+ activates directly the phospholipase A2 and lipoxygenase pathway. A 23187 (10 microM) enhanced [3H]leukotriene B4 release from freshly prepared alveolar macrophages about 65-fold, but only 5- to 6-fold fro…
Calcium-Dependent Assembly of Centrin-G-Protein Complex in Photoreceptor Cells
2002
Photoexcitation of rhodopsin activates a heterotrimeric G-protein cascade leading to cyclic GMP hydrolysis in vertebrate photoreceptors. Light-induced exchanges of the visual G-protein transducin between the outer and inner segment of rod photoreceptors occur through the narrow connecting cilium. Here we demonstrate that transducin colocalizes with the Ca(2+)-binding protein centrin 1 in a specific domain of this cilium. Coimmunoprecipitation, centrifugation, centrin overlay, size exclusion chromatography, and kinetic light-scattering experiments indicate that Ca(2+)-activated centrin 1 binds with high affinity and specificity to transducin. The assembly of centrin-G-protein complex is medi…
The city on the Moldau as a liminal space: Prague in Anthony Trollope's "Nina Balatka"
2022
The article discusses Anthony Trollope's representation of the city of Prague in his 1867 novel Nina Balatka, which first appeared anonymously in the Blackwood's Magazine. The novel tells the story of the eponymous protagonist, a Christian woman, who falls in love with a Jewish man. Trollope's choice of Prague as the backdrop for the story of two lovers separated by the great gulf between Christians and Jews seems particularly fitting, because the spatial division of the city by the river Moldau which separates the Christian and the Jewish parts of town reinforces the sense that the two protagonists come from different worlds. Trollope's characters exist in the realistically represented cit…
Nitric oxide synthase activity is inducible in rat, but not rabbit alveolar macrophages, with a concomitant reduction in arginase activity
1995
Alveolar macrophages were obtained by broncho-alveolar lavage of isolated rat and rabbit lungs and cultured (2.5 × 106 cells/dish) for 18 h in the absence or presence of bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) alone or in combination with cytokines. Thereafter, accumulation of 3H-citrulline (NO synthase activity) and 3H-ornithine (arginase activity) were determined. During incubation of rat alveolar macrophages with 3H-arginine clear amounts of 3H-citrulline and 3H-ornithine (3.8 and 4.6% of the added 3H-arginine, respectively) were formed and most of these metabolites appeared in the incubation medium (ratios extra-/intracellular of 17 and 70 for 3H-citrulline and 3H-ornithine, respectively). …
Cationic Proteins Inhibit l-Arginine Uptake in Rat Alveolar Macrophages and Tracheal Epithelial Cells
1999
Eosinophil-derived cationic proteins play an essential role in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. We tested whether cationic proteins interfere with the cationic amino-acid transport in alveolar macrophages (AMPhi) and tracheal epithelial cells, and whether L-arginine-dependent pathways were affected. The effect of cationic polypeptides on cellular uptake of [(3)H]-L-arginine, nitrite accumulation, and the turnover of [(3)H]-L-arginine by nitric oxide (NO) synthase and arginase (formation of [(3)H]-L-citrulline and [(3)H]-L-ornithine, respectively) were studied. Poly-L-arginine reduced [(3)H]-L-arginine uptake in rat AMPhi and tracheal epithelial cells in a concentration-dependent manner…
Transcriptional up-regulation of nNOS in the dorsal vagal complex during low endotoxemia
2005
The present study analyses the expression and distribution of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in the brainstem of animals pre-treated with Escherichia coli or Helicobacter pylori LPS, at doses that modulate gastric motor function. Systemic administration of H. pylori LPS prevented in a dose-dependent manner (5, 40 and 100 microg kg(-1), i.v.) the increase in intragastric pressure induced by 2-deoxy-D-glucose (200 mg kg(-1), i.v.) in urethane-anaesthetized rats. Quantitative analysis showed a significant increase in the amount of nNOS mRNA induced by E. coli or H. pylori LPS (2 h later), in a segment of the brainstem containing the dorsal vagal complex (DVC). Immunohistochemical studie…
Acute exercise activates nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB signaling pathway in rat skeletal muscle.
2004
Two studies were performed to investigate the effects of an acute bout of physical exercise on the nuclear protein kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling pathway in rat skeletal muscle. In Study 1, a group of rats (n=6) was run on the treadmill at 25 m/min, 5% grade, for 1 h or until exhaustion (Ex), and compared with a second group (n=6) injected with two doses of pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC, 100 mg/kg, i.p.) 24 and 1 h prior to the acute exercise bout. Three additional groups of rats (n=6) were injected with either 8 mg/kg (i.p.) of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), 1 mmol/kg (i.p.) t-butylhydroperoxide (tBHP), or saline (C) and killed at resting condition. Ex rats showed higher levels of NF-kappaB b…
Effects of asymmetric dimethylarginine on renal arteries in portal hypertension and cirrhosis
2016
AIM. To evaluate the effects of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) in renal arteries from portal hypertensive and cirrhotic rats. METHODS. Rat renal arteries from Sham (n = 15), pre-hepatic portal hypertension (PPVL; n = 15) and bile duct ligation and excision-induced cirrhosis (BDL; n = 15) were precontracted with norepinephrine, and additional contractions were induced with ADMA (10-6-10-3 mol/L), an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) synthase. Concentration-response curves to acetylcholine (1 × 10-9-3 × 10-6 mol/L) were determined in precontracted renal artery segments with norepinephrine in the absence and in the presence of ADMA. Kidneys were collected to determine the protein e…
The Role of Liver in Determining Serum Colon-Derived Uremic Solutes.
2015
Evidence has shown that indoxyl sulfate (IS) and p-cresyl sulfate (PCS) may be alternative predictors of clinical outcomes in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Both toxins are derived from the gastrointestinal tract and metabolised in the liver. However, it is unclear whether the liver affects the production of IS and PCS. Here, we explore the association between IS and PCS levels in liver cirrhosis and a CKD-based cohort (N = 115). Liver and kidney function was assessed and classified by a Child-Pugh score (child A–C) and a modified version of the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation (Stages 1–4), respectively. An animal model was also used to confirm the two toxin levels in a…