However, the presence of desmosterol in rabbit semen has never been investigated. The aims of this study were to characterize the sterol composition of subfractions of ejaculated rabbit semen and evaluate the in vitro effects of sterol on the spermatozoa acrosome reaction and motility. Two sterols, occurring prevalently in VX-680 the free form (94.3%), were identified in whole semen collected from 10 fertile New Zealand White rabbits, specifically desmosterol (58.5% of total sterols) and cholesterol (35.9% of total sterols). Desmosterol was the predominant sterol found in all subfractions of rabbit semen, varying from

56.7% (in the prostatic secretory granules, PSGs) to 63.8% (in the seminal plasma). Spermatozoa contained an intermediate proportion of desmosterol (59.8%), which was asymmetrically Selleck Citarinostat distributed between the heads (52.0% of the total content of sterols) and the tails (81.8%). Results showed that both desmosterol and cholesterol can be transferred from the PSGs to the spermatozoa and are equally effective in inhibiting in vitro spermatozoa capacitation at a concentration higher than 1 mg L-1. In contrast, neither desmosterol nor cholesterol had a significant effect on spermatozoa motility. Thus, it was concluded that, the various fractions of rabbit seminal fluid differ

from each other in sterol composition and quantity, probably due to their different functional properties, and these fractions may undergo significant sterol changes depending on the stage of spermatozoa capacitation.”
“Boron is an important micronutrient in plants and animals. The role of boron in living systems includes coordinated regulation of gene expression, growth and proliferation of higher plants and animals. There are several well-defined genes associated with HIF pathway boron transportation and tolerance

in plants and these genes show close homology with human anion exchanger genes. Mutation of these genes also characterizes some genetic disorders. We investigated the toxic effects of boric acid on HEK293 cells and mRNA expression of anion exchanger (SLC4A1, SLC4A2 and SLC4A3) genes. Cytotoxicity of boric acid at different concentrations was tested by using the methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide assay. Gene expression profiles were examined using quantitative real-time PCR. In the HEK293 cells, the nontoxic upper concentration of boric acid was 250 mu M; more than 500 mu M caused cytotoxicity. The 250 mu M boric acid concentration increased gene expression level of SLC4A2 up to 8.6-fold and SLC4A3 up to 2.6-fold, after 36-h incubation. There was no significant effect of boric acid on SLC4A1 mRNA expression levels.”
“Several domestic varieties of kiwifruit including Actinidia deliciosa cv. ‘Hayward’, ‘Daeheung’, ‘Monty’, ‘Arimold’, ‘Hyangrok’ and A. chinensis cv.