Ispaghula (Plantago ovata) seed husk polysaccharides promote proliferation of human epithelial cells (skin keratinocytes and fibroblasts) via enhanced growth factor receptors and energy production.

Endogenous carbohydrates, especially oligo- and polysaccharides, participate in the regulation of a broad range of biological activities, e. g., signal transduction, inflammation, fertilisation, cell-cell-adhesion and act as in vivo markers for the determination of cell types. In the present study, water-soluble (WS) and gel-forming polysaccharides (GF) of ispaghula seed husk (Plantago ovata Forsskal, Plantaginaceae) were characterised as neutral and acidic arabinoxylans and tested under in vitro conditions for regulating activities on cell physiology of human keratinocytes and human primary fibroblasts. Only water-soluble polysaccharides exhibited strong and significant effects on cell physiology of keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Proliferation of cells of the spontaneously immortalised keratinocyte cell line HaCaT was significantly up-regulated in a dose-independent manner. Analysis of activated signal pathways by RNA analysis proved an effect of the acidic arabinoxylan on the expression of keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) in HaCaT cells. Differentiation behaviour of normal human keratinocytes (NHK) determined by involucrin was slightly influenced, due to the enhanced cell proliferation, leading to a cell-cell-mediated indirect induction of early differentiation. WS did not influence late differentiation, as determined by keratin K1 and K10 titres.

Binary specification of nonsense codons by splicing and cytoplasmic translation.

Premature translation termination codons resulting from nonsense or frameshift mutations are common causes of genetic disorders. Complications arising from the synthesis of C-terminally truncated polypeptides can be avoided by 'nonsense-mediated decay' of the mutant mRNAs. Premature termination codons in the beta-globin mRNA cause the common recessive form of beta-thalassemia when the affected mRNA is degraded, but the more severe dominant form when the mRNA escapes nonsense-mediated decay. We demonstrate that cells distinguish a premature termination codon within the beta-globin mRNA from the physiological translation termination codon by a two-step specification mechanism. According to the binary specification model proposed here, the positions of splice junctions are first tagged during splicing in the nucleus, defining a stop codon operationally as a premature termination codon by the presence of a 3' splicing tag. In the second step, cytoplasmic translation is required to validate the 3' splicing tag for decay of the mRNA. This model explains nonsense-mediated decay on the basis of conventional molecular mechanisms and allows us to propose a common principle for nonsense-mediated decay from yeast to man.