In this study, we report the cDNA cloning of hamster adrenal steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein and the effect of adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) on its expression in vivo. A hamster adrenal cDNA library was screened using an 852 bp fragment obtained by polymerase chain reaction; this fragment corresponds to the entire coding sequence (CDS) of the hamster adrenal StAR cDNA. Ten clones of...

important role in the maintenance of the differentiated functions of these organs, and is essential for the expression of all steroidogenic CYPs (Parker & Schimmer, 1997). It is also required for the expression of other genes involved in steroid hormone synthesis such as steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase /Δ5-Δ4 isomerase (HSD3B) and the ACTH receptor...

The general idea that emerged from the experiments, made in our laboratoires, was that Echinodermata, as exemplified by sea stars: Asterina gibbosa and Asterias Rubens, possessed an immune system, with B cell lymphocytes, able to mount cellular and humoral-specific responses, after stimulation with a foreign antigen [1]. Asterias Rubens produced ‘‘An antibody’’ anti HRP after injections to HRP,...

In addition to improving image contrast, microbubbles have shown great potential in molecular imaging and drug/gene delivery. Previous work by the authors showed that considerable improvements in gene transfection efficiency were obtained using microbubbles loaded with magnetic nanoparticles under simultaneous exposure to ultrasound and magnetic fields. The aim of this study was to characterise...

the atom-bond connectivity index of graph is a topological index proposed by estrada et al.as abc (g)  uve (g ) (du dv  2) / dudv , where the summation goes over all edges ofg, du and dv are the degrees of the terminal vertices u and v of edge uv. in the present paper,some upper bounds for the second type of atom-bond connectivity index are computed.

BACKGROUND There are five major extant groups of Echinodermata: Crinoidea (feather stars and sea lillies), Ophiuroidea (brittle stars and basket stars), Asteroidea (sea stars), Echinoidea (sea urchins, sea biscuits, and sand dollars), and Holothuroidea (sea cucumbers). These animals are known for their pentaradial symmetry as adults, unique water vascular system, mutable collagenous tissues, an...

Two star polycations, poly(2-aminoethyl methacrylate) (PAEMA, P1) and poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA, P2), have been synthesized with perylene diimide (PDI) as the central fluorophore. (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR are used to confirm the successful synthesis of a macromolecular initiator. Using ATRP strategy, P1 and P2 are obtained with narrow molecular weight distribution. The st...

Cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme (SCC) catalyzes the conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone, the first step in the biosynthesis of all steroid hormones. It was once postulated that SCC deficiency would be lethal, but recent studies have established that SCC deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by inactivating mutations in the CYP11A1 gene. Clinical manifestations includ...