Search results for "Snakes"
showing 10 items of 16 documents
Monitoring the reproductive activity in captive bred female ball pythons (P. regius) by ultrasound evaluation and noninvasive analysis of faecal repr…
2018
The royal python (Python regius) is commonly bred in captivity. To have a successful breeding season, accurate monitoring of the reproductive activity is necessary. The use of non-invasive monitoring methods in exotics is important in order to minimize stress. For this purpose ultrasound has been anecdotally used to monitor royal python reproductive activity. However, there is limited information regarding the reproductive cycle of this species. The aim of the present study is to monitor the female reproductive cycle of the royal python using ultrasonography and gonadal steroid metabolite measurements in the faeces. The reproductive activity of one hundred twenty-nine adult female P. regius…
Una nota testuale alla Galene di Andromaco il Vecchio (Andr.15)
2017
This paper wants to propose a conjecture to a corrupted pass (v. 15) of the so called Galene, the pharmacological poem in 87 elegiac couplets written by Andromachus the Elder.
Physicochemical characterization of the fifth (C5), sixth (C6), seventh (C7), eighth (C8) and ninth (C9) component of guinea pig complement.
1971
A physicochemical characterization of the purified guinea pig complement components C5 to C9 is given. For this purpose the sedimentation rate, the diffusion coefficient, the molecular weight and the isoelectric point were determined and compared with the values already known for the guinea pig and human complement system. For the determination of the physicochemical parameters gel filtration on Sephadex G-200, ultracentrifugation applying a sucrose density gradient and thin-layer isoelectric focusing were used. By comparing the values of the human and guinea pig complement a remarkable similarity is shown.
COMPLEMENT-DEPENDENT B-CELL ACTIVATION BY COBRA VENOM FACTOR AND OTHER MITOGENS?
1974
It has been proposed that two distinct signals are required for the triggering of the precursors of antibody-forming bone marrow-derived cells (B cells): (a) the binding of antigen or of a mitogen to the corresponding receptor sites on B-cell membranes and (b) the interaction of activated C3 with the C3 receptor of B lymphocytes. There is growing evidence that B-cell mitogens and T (thymus-derived cell)-independent antigens are capable of activating the alternate pathway of the complement system (bypass). Therefore, the effect of another potent bypass inducer was investigated with regard to B-cell activation and the role of C3. Purified, pyrogen-free cobra venom factor was mitogenic for bot…
Snake venom disintegrins: evolution of structure and function.
2005
Disintegrins represent a family of polypeptides present in the venoms of various vipers that selectively block the function of integrin receptors. Here, we review our current view and hypothesis on the emergence and the structural and functional diversification of disintegrins by accelerated evolution and the selective loss of disulfide bonds of duplicated genes. Research on disintegrins is relevant for understanding the biology of viper venom toxins, but also provides information on new structural determinants involved in integrin recognition that may be useful in basic and clinical research. The role of the composition, conformation, and dynamics of the integrin inhibitory loop acting in …
NOMI DI SERPENTE IN NICANDRO. DRIINO/CHELIDRO IDRO E CHERSIDRO.
2015
the aim of this paper is to argue that the snake called dryinas should be identified only with another snake, the chelydrus, and not with the more famous hydrus, as is written in Nicander’s Theriaká v. 414. In fact this verse is an interpolation
L’ASPIDE SANGUINARIA: ESEGESI DI UN PASSO DEI THERIAKÁ DI NICANDRO (vv. 157-89)
2015
In a passage of Nicander’s Theriaká on the snake called aspis the adjective ἀμυδρότατον is attested (Th. 158). The aim of this paper is to define the meaning of this adjective. Ancient and modern scholars have variously interpreted it: some of them referred ἀμυδρότατον to the laziness and sluggishness of the animal, others to its perniciousness. However, both these meanings are quite atypical: ἀμυδρός usually means ‘weak, faint, obscure’. Here I suggest that the value of the adjective ἀμυδρότατον in Th. 158 should be related to its original meaning.
Neural substrates for processing chemosensory information in snakes.
2002
Snakes interact with their chemical environment through their olfactory and vomeronasal systems. The present report summarizes advances on neural substrates for processing chemosensory information. First, the efferent and centrifugal afferent connections of the main and accessory olfactory bulbs were reinvestigated. Second, the afferent and efferent connections of the nucleus sphericus, the main target of the accessory olfactory bulb, were characterized. The nucleus sphericus gives rise to a very small projection to the hypothalamus, but it does project to other telencephalic structures where olfactory and vomeronasal information could converge. Third, the intra-amygdaloid circuitry and the…
Conformation and concerted dynamics of the integrin-binding site and the C-terminal region of echistatin revealed by homonuclear NMR
2005
Copyright © by Portland Press. The final version of record is available at http://www.biochemj.org/bj/default.htm
Species- and Subtype-Specific Recognition by Antibody WF6 of a Sequence Segment Forming an α-Bungarotoxin Binding Site on the Nicotinic Acetylcholine…
1992
The monoclonal antibody WF6 competes with acetylcholine and alpha-bungarotoxin (alpha-BGT) for binding to the Torpedo nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) alpha 1 subunit. Using synthetic peptides corresponding to the complete Torpedo nAChR alpha 1 subunit, we previously mapped a continuous epitope recognized by WF6, and the prototope for alpha-BGT, to the sequence segment alpha 1(181-200). Single amino acid substitution analogs have been used as an initial approach to determine the critical amino acids for WF6 and alpha-BGT binding. In the present study, we continue our analysis of the structural features of the WF6 epitope by comparing its cross-reactivity with synthetic peptides corr…