A new method for the purification of gap junctions is described which depends on the extraction of cell monolayers or tissue homogenates with Triton X-100.
Retinoic acid inhibits junctional communication between a variety of vertebrate cell types in culture. It reduces the intercellular transfer of 3H-nucleotides between Syrian hamster kidney fibroblasts (BHK 21/13), Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts (V79), rat liver epithelial cells (BRL), Swiss mouse embryo fibroblasts (3T3), rainbow trout gonadal fibroblasts (RTG2) and Xenopus embryo fibroblasts (Xen). It also reduces metabolic cooperation between hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase deficient mutant and wild-type BHK cells. The inhibition is rapid (intercellular transfer of iontophoretically injected Lucifer Yellow CH between BRL cells is completely blocked after the cells have been exposed to 10(-4) M retinoic acid for 5 min), and is fully reversed when the drug is removed. Based on these results and the observation that the amount of gap junctional protein isolated from cells grown in the presence of retinoic acid for 1 h is the same and after 24 h is increased (1.3- to 3.1-fold) compared with the amount isolated from untreated cells, we suggest that the inhibitory effect is mediated by the reversible closure of junctional channels.
Public support or opposition to the expansion of wind energy plays a key role in energy policy and the development of the industry. For more than 30 years, scholars have attempted to understand the nature of public opinion about wind energy. Unfortunately, the largely observational and correlational nature of the evidence limits the abilities of scholars to isolate the causal relationships that shape attitudes about wind energy. Recent summaries of the literature illustrate the need for experimental designs to improve our understanding of the public's view on this growing technology. Using an original survey experiment with a national sample, we test the effectiveness of messages about the economic and environmental implications of the expansion of wind energy. Our results indicate that 1) the public is sensitive to messaging about both the environmental and economic effects of wind energy; 2) the messages have both a persuasive (changing the content of attitudes) and priming (changing the weight applied to existing attitudes) effect on the public; and 3) the environmental messages have a greater effect on public opinions of wind energy than economic messages. Those interested in promoting positive attitudes about alternative energy need to be aware of both the persuasive and priming influences in messages about wind energy.
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