S.L. MARUÑAK^*, L. LEIVA^**, M.E. GARCIA DENEGRI^*, P. TEIBLER^*, O. ACOSTA DE PÉREZ^*

BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.3, pp. 355-364, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.355

Abstract A phospholipase A₂ has been isolated from Bothrops jararacussu venom from snakes that inhabit the northeast region of Argentina. The present study describes in vivo and in vitro biological activities of phospholipase A₂ from B. jararacussu as well as isolation details of its. Venom was obtained by milking of adult snakes which were housing in wood reptile cages of varying dimensions in heated (20–30ºC) rooms. Snakes received a weekly diet of mice and water was available ad libitum for drinking and soaking. The enzyme was purified by gel filtration on a Sephadex G-75 column followed by ion exchange chromatography on… More >

A. C. FARALDO¹, A. SÁ-NUNES², L. H. FACCIOLI², E. A. DEL BEL³, E. LELLO⁴

BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.2, pp. 205-211, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.205

Abstract Although insects lack the adaptive immune response of the mammalians, they manifest effective innate immune responses, which include both cellular and humoral components. Cellular responses are mediated by hemocytes, and humoral responses include the activation of proteolytic cascades that initiate many events, including NO production. In mammals, nitric oxide synthases (NOSs) are also present in the endothelium, the brain, the adrenal glands, and the platelets. Studies on the distribution of NO-producing systems in invertebrates have revealed functional similarities between NOS in this group and vertebrates. We attempted to localize NOS activity in tissues of naïve More >

BING QI¹, XINMING ZHENG², WENYONG LI³, QINGXIN WEI², QINGXUAN CHEN¹

BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.2, pp. 199-203, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.199

Abstract Although there is more evidence that shows that IFNs (interferons) plays a very important role in the early development of the embryo, the mechanism of IFNs is still unclear. Our study showed that IFRG is expressed from oocytes- through to the preimplantation embryo in rabbits. This finding provides some clues for better understanding the role of IFNs in the development of the embryo. The full length of rabbit IFRG cDNA (Accession No. AJ584672), with a 2794bp encoding 131 amino acid sequence, was cloned IFRG expression can be detected in 8 different tissues: ovary, heart, lung, More >

NANCY RODRÍGUEZ, NORA MAYER, HÉCTOR F. GAUNA

BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.1, pp. 67-74, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.067

Abstract Prenatal stimulations have been shown to have long-term effects on at reproductive activity. We evaluated the influence of the prenatal stress on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonad (HPG) axis in male offsprings from mothers with high number of offsprings per litter (HNL) and low number of offsprings per litter (LNL) after hypothesizing that the number of offsprings per litter may modify the effect of the prenatal stress on the HPG of adult offsprings. Pregnant Wistar rats were used for this study. Immobilization (IMO) stress was used, 30 min, 3 times per week, from the 5th to 21st day… More >

KIVANÇ ERGEN^*, MUHAMMET BEKTAŞ^**, SINA GÖKÇE^**, RÜSTEM NURTEN^**

BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.1, pp. 61-66, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.061

Abstract Eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF-2) can undergo ADP-ribosylation in the absence of diphtheria toxin. The binding of free ADP-ribose and endogenous transferase-dependent ADP-ribosylation were distinct reactions for eEF-2, as indicated by different findings. Incubation of eEF-2 tryptic fragment 32/33 kDa (32F) with NAD was ADP-ribosylated and gave rise to the covalent binding of ADP-ribose to eEF-2. 32F was revealed to be at the C-terminal by Edman degradation sequence analysis.
In our study, the elution of 32F from SDS-PAGE was ADP-ribosylated both in the presence and absence of diphtheria toxin. These results suggest that endogenous ADP-ribosylation More >

ELISA CEBRAL^1,2, ISABEL CARRASCO¹ , DAVID VANTMAN¹, ROSITA SMITH¹

BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.1, pp. 51-59, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.051

Abstract Exposure of either gametes or embryos to conditions and/or factors that generate oxidative stress has been associated with impaired early embryogenesis. The effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) on mouse preimplantation development, depending of the ROS-concentration and time of exposition, were studied. Two-cell embryos were incubated with 5, 10, 25 and 50 μM of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) for 30 and 60 minutes of exposition and allowed to develop for 72 h to study the quality of development. The incubation with 50 μM H₂O₂ for 30 or 60 minutes, strongly inhibited the 2-cell embryo development as compared… More >

M.T. MARTIN^*, H.E. PEDRANZANI^**, R. SIERRA DE GRADO

BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.1, pp. 41-49, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.041

Abstract An in vitro collection has been established with selected European aspen from Palencia province (Spain). Currently, this collection includes 32 high quality clones, selected for their good bearing and healthy state. Most of them belong to different discrete local populations.
Populus tremula L. was propagated in proliferation Aspen Culture Medium; they required subculture every 3 months. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to select a medium which allows the maintenance of 32 clones for a period longer than 3 months without subculture and to observe the behavior of those clones in 15 different culture medium compositions. Seven… More >

JOÃO PAULO FERREIRA SCHOFFEN, MARIA RAQUEL MARÇAL NATALI

BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.1, pp. 33-39, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.033

Abstract Alterations in the gastrointestinal neuromuscular function related to age have been demonstrated in human and animal models. This study analyzes the effects of the aging process on the area of the neuronal cell bodies of the myenteric plexus in the antimesenteric and intermediate regions of the ileal circumference of Wistar, 12 month-old in comparison 3 month-old animals. The ileum was removed and wholemount preparations immunostained by the antibody anti-myosin-V were processed. The morphometric analyses were performed using a computerized image analysis system, with a subsequent distribution of neurons by size in intervals of 100 μm². The More >

CLAUDIA FERNANDA NOME¹ , SERGIO FERNANDO NOME² , FABIANA GUZMÁN¹ , LUIS CONCI¹, IRMA GRACIELA LAGUNA^1,2

BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.1, pp. 23-31, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.023

Abstract Among diseases reported worldwidely for sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam) crop, one of the most frequent is the Sweet potato virus disease (SPVD), caused by sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus (SPCSV) and sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV) co-infection. In Argentina, there exists the sweet potato chlorotic dwarf (SPCD), a sweet potato disease caused by triple co-infection with SPCSV, SPFMV and sweet potato mild speckling virus(SPMSV). Both diseases cause a synergism between the potyviruses(SPFMV and SPMSV) and the crinivirus (SPCSV). Up to date, studies carried out on the interaction among these three viruses have… More >

SONIA ROSENFELDT, BEATRIZ G. GALATI

BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.1, pp. 13-21, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.013

Abstract Pollen morphology and the degree of pollen variability within nine species and two varieties of Oxalis species from Buenos Aires Province (Argentina) were studied using light microscopy (LM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
Oxalis pollen grain is generally 3-colpate and the shape is prolate spheroidal, oblate spheroidal or spheroidal. The exine is microreticulate. The brochi are circular to polygonal; brochi sizes decrease near the colpi. The colpus membrane observed in unacetolysed material, is crustate or granular. The colpus length varies within a species; the largest grains are produced in stamens with long filaments More >