Photoinduced intramolecular charge separation (CS) in a polar polymer glass, cyanoethylated pullulan (CN-PUL), was studied below the glass transition temperature (Tg=395 K). A series of three carbazole (Cz: donor)-cyclohexane (S: spacer)-acceptor (A: acceptor) molecules (Cz-S-A) was used as intramolecular donor-acceptor dyads. The photoinduced CS rate was evaluated by the fluorescence decay mea...

Gap junctions are widely distributed in the brains across species and play essential roles in neural information processing. However, the role of gap junctions in insect cognition remains poorly understood. Using a flight simulator paradigm and genetic tools, we found that gap junctions are present in Drosophila Kenyon cells (KCs), the major neurons of the mushroom bodies (MBs), and showed that...

(KCS).2) Several KCS genes from higher plants have been identified, e.g., Arabidopsis thaliana E4El, CU71I, and KCSI,3-5) Simmondsia chinensis Gojoba) Kes,6) Brcmssica nupus (rape) KCS,'} and Limnanthes dougldsii (meadowfoam) E4E.S) The A4EI gene of A. thaiiana, for example, encodes a seed-specific fatty acid elongase which extends the 18 and 20 carbon acyl chains to 20 and 22, respectively.3) ...

Tobacco products and nicotine alter the cell cycle and lead to squamatization of oral keratinocytes (KCs) and squamous cell carcinoma. Activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) elicits Ca(2+) influx that varies in magnitude between different nAChR subtypes. Normal differentiation of KCs is associated with sequential expression of the nAChR subtypes with increasing Ca(2+) permeabi...

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) encompasses a spectrum of liver injury ranging from steatosis to steatohepatitis, fibrosis, and finally cirrhosis. Accumulating evidences have demonstrated that Kupffer cells (KCs) play critical roles in the pathogenesis of both chronic and acute ALD. It has become clear that alcohol exposure can result in increased hepatic translocation of gut-sourced endotoxin/li...

In the mushroom bodies (MBs) of Drosophila, an analogue of the mammalian olfactory cortex, olfactory stimuli are sparsely encoded by Kenyon cells (KCs) that exhibit a high level of odor selectivity. Sparse coding of olfactory stimuli has significant advantages for maximizing the discrimination power and storage capacity of MBs. The inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system is important f...

Liver resident macrophages designated Kupffer cells (KCs) form the largest subpopulation of tissue macrophages. KCs are involved in the pathogenesis of liver inflammation. However, the role of KCs in the systemic inflammation is still elusive. In this study, we examined whether KCs are involved in not only intrahepatic inflammation but also extrahepatic systemic inflammation. Administration of ...

K-complexes and sleep spindles often grouped together characterize the second stage of NREM sleep and interest has been raised on a possible interaction of their underlying mechanisms. The reported inhibition of spindles power for about 15 seconds following evoked K-complexes has implications on their role in arousal. Our objective was to assess this inhibition following spontaneous K-complexes...

Recently we reported that gene codon composition determines differentiation-dependent expression of the PV L1 genes in mouse primary keratinocytes (KCs) in vitro and in vivo (Zhao et al. 2005, Mol. Cell Biol. 25:8643-8655). Here, we investigated whether generalized substitution of isoencoding codons affects the duration of expression of PV L1 genes in mouse and human KCs in day 1 culture transi...

beta-Ketoacyl-coenzyme A (CoA) synthase (KCS) catalyzes the condensation of malonyl-CoA with long-chain acyl-CoA. This reaction is the initial step of the microsomal fatty acyl-CoA elongation pathway responsible for formation of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs, or fatty acids with chain lengths > 18 carbons). Manipulation of this pathway is significant for agriculture, because it is the bas...