The establishment of an effective pulmonary alveolar-capillary interface occurs during mid to late gestation. This requires an expansion of endothelial, epithelial, and air space compartments with relative thinning of the interstitial compartment. Traditionally, these changes have been attributed to differences in the rate of cell growth in the respective compartments. We hypothesized that apop...

Dynamic changes in callose content, which is deposited as a plant defense response to physiological changes, were analyzed during somatic embryogenesis in Eleutherococcus senticosus zygotic embryos plasmolyzed in 1.0 M mannitol. During plasmolysis, callose deposition was clearly observed inside the plasma membrane of zygotic embryo epidermal cells using confocal laser scanning microscopy. The c...

Early chick blastoderms (stages X-XII) were divided by a circular cut into two fragments. In one experimental group, the area opaca was separated from the marginal zone and the central disc of the area pellucida, while in another group the area opaca plus marginal zone were separated from the central disc. Other blastoderms of equivalent stages were each cut into three strips of equal size (eit...

BACKGROUND The threatened plant Centella asiatica L. is traditionallyused for a number of remedies. In vitro plant propagation and enhanced metabolite production of active metabolites through biotechnological approaches has gained attention in recent years. RESULTS Present study reveals that 6-benzyladenine (BA) either alone or in combination with 1-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) supplemented ...

The neonatal mouse retina remains viable as an explant in serum-supplemented growth media for more than 4 weeks. Interpretation of drug effects on this tissue is compromised by the enigmatic composition of the serum. We sought to remove this ambiguity by culturing neonatal as well as late postnatal mouse retina in serum-free nutrient medium. In this study three important observations were made,...

There is accumulating evidence that the mammalian cerebral cortex is regionally specified early in neurogenesis. However, the degree and scale of the regional pattern that is intrinsic to different parts of the cortical primordium remains unclear. Here, we show that detailed patterning-the accurate positioning of several areas or fields-is intrinsic to the part of the primordium that generates ...

Tooth germ derived from the mandible of newborn mice was used in this study. The enamel organs were dissected and attached directly to coverslips without using the plasma clot. By this method it was possible, for the first time as far as is known, to attain preparations in which the major part of the outgrowth from the explant consisted purely of epithelial-like cells which probably were anelob...

Fibrochondrocytes within meniscal tissue have been shown to alter their biochemical activity in response to changes in their mechanical environment. Meniscal tissue is known to contain both spherical (chondrocytic-like) and elliptical (fibroblastic-like) cells. We hypothesize that a cell's mechanical environment is governed by local material properties of the tissue around the cell, the cell mo...

Signal transducer and activator of transcription-5 (Stat5) is known to play a critical role in prolactin-induced beta-casein gene transcription in rodents. In nonmammary cells, Stat5 is activated by multiple hormones and cytokines, including growth hormone. We hypothesized that Stat5 may serve as a common point in the signal transduction pathways of hormones that promote milk protein gene expre...

A suitable protocol for micropropagation of Casuarina hybrid, Casuarina equisetifolia L. 9 Casuarina glauca Sieber ex Spreng (C. e. 9 C. g.), was developed. When seeds without seed coats were cultured on 4 germination media, the optimal seed germination percentage (91%) was obtained on 0.8% agar solidified water medium. Shoot multiplication was achieved by culturing 2-cm long epicotyls, excised...