Results of research by scientists from the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the ASCR have been published on the U.S. National Library of Medicine website. Their work on the STIM1-directed reorganization of microtubules in activated mast cells could help in fighting allergies. The study reports that activation of bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs) induced by FcεRI aggregation or treatment with pervanadate or thapsigargin results in the generation of protrusions containing microtubules (microtubule protrusions). In the study, formation of these protrusions depended on the influx of extracellular Ca(2+). Changes in cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration also affected microtubule plus-end dynamics detected by microtubule plus-end tracking protein EB1. Experiments with knockdown or reexpression of STIM1, the key regulator of SOCE, confirmed the important role of STIM1 in the formation of microtubule protrusions. Although STIM1 in activated cells formed puncta associated with microtubules in protrusions, relocastion of STIM1 to a close proximity of cell membrane was independent of growing microtubules. In accordance with the inhibition of Ag-induced Ca(2+) response and decreased formation of microtubule protrusions in BMMCs with reduced STIM1, the cells also exhibited impaired chemotactic response to Ag. Institute geneticists proposed that rearrangement of microtubules in activated mast cells depends on STIM1-induced SOCE, and that Ca(2+) plays an important role in the formation of microtubule protrusions in BMMCs. and Petr Dráber a Pavel Dráber.
Genetically modified (GM) maize may be - come important as the spread of the Western Corn Rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera) feeding on maize continues. However, its implementation in european agriculture has been hindered by fears of undesirable environmental effects, despite the worldwide cultivation of the GM crop. The presented study compares impacts of the GM maize MON 88017 and the non-transgenic maize on non-target invertebrates. Neither the composition nor the species abundance of invertebrate communities were affected in a field with the GM maize. and Zdeňka Svobodová, Oxana Habuštová, František Sehnal.
Článek ukazuje, jak nám zdánlivě jednoduché přístupy a nástroje založené na fyzikálních a chemických principech a poznatcích umožní přežít v nehostinných podmínkách mimo civilizaci. obecné úvahy jsou ilustrovány konkrétními příklady - rozděláváním ohně, čištěním a dezinfekcí vody atp., This article deals with using physics and chemistry to make possible our survival in the wilderness. Contemporary physics and chemistry is responsible for progress in the field of outdoor pursuits. Outdoor equipment and skills have become high-tech. Thus, use of basic physical and chemical principles in outdoor activities is now often overlooked although they can be of great use at moments when we lose technological superiority because of unexpected situations and events at extreme conditions. Then we are forced to improvise. Usefulness of applying physical and chemical principles is demonstrated on flame-resistant fiberglass wick, simple lighters, thermos used for cooking and sperilizing water, utilization electrolysis of brine for generating chlorine for water disinfection, use of PET bottles as simple pressurized filtration device for water purification, and so on., Ladislav Sieger., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The discussion study takes as its starting point the thinking, which Professor Šmajs and others presented in Filosofický časopis 6, 2013 on evolutionary ontology. The author shows an enduring aspect of evolutionary ontology: ontology as the product of human culture attains to knowledge that has the seeming character of objective truth - it thus expresses the true nature of the ontic order of nature. This is not, however, the usual nonsense of inconsistent philosophy. The author of the text identifies as lying behind the step Kantian and Hegelian strategies which make possible this shift from the order of culture to the order of nature. These strategies are (i) a sign of the grounding of Professor Šmajs´ ideas in early-modern thinking; and (ii) they are the cause of a strongly anthropocentric attitude, which unwittingly influences the system of evolutionary ontology. At the end of the study, the author points to the fact that it would be more appropriate for evolutionary ontology if its proponents were able to give up their early-modern argumentative approach, and thus rid themselves of their strong anthropocentrism. In this way they would be able to avoid the conceptual conflict which makes evolutionary ontology "frozen" from within., Radim Šíp., and Obsahuje poznámky a bibliografii
Článek představuje klíčové okamžiky evoluce suchozemských rostlin. Chce ukázat výsledky, které přinesl systematický výzkum nedávných let a které změnily naši představu o příbuznosti jednotlivých skupin cévnatých rostlin. Snaží se také vysvětlit a obhájit změny v zažitých skupinách a jménech., This article shows the evolution of land plants and presents the results of systematic research and changes in our understanding of phylogenetic relations. Changes in the group delimitation and in nomenclature are defended., and Milan Štech.