Stability and Change in Posttraumatic Distress: A 7-Year Follow-Up Study of Mothers and Young Children Exposed to Cumulative Trauma.

In situations of cumulative trauma, it is often unclear why some people remain resilient, whereas others experience distress, and how likely these responses are to change over time. To investigate the constancy of responses to cumulative trauma, stability and change in posttraumatic distress and resistance (as defined by no evidence of clinical symptoms) were assessed twice in 140 Israeli children and mothers exposed to continual rocket attacks over approximately 7 years, when the children were 2-4 (Time 1) and 9-11 years of age (Time 2). Measures included trauma exposure, posttraumatic and depressive symptoms, and child behavioral problems. We identified 4 longitudinal courses (LCs): resilient (resistance at Time 1 and Time 2), recovered (clinical distress at Time 1 and resistance at Time 2), developed symptoms (resistance at Time 1 and clinical distress at Time 2), and chronic distress (clinical distress at Time 1 and Time 2). Results showed more stability than change in the frequencies of resistance at both times of measurement. The resilient LC was the most common longitudinal course for both mothers and children. Multinomial regression models indicated that maternal posttraumatic symptoms predicted the recovered and chronic distress LCs of the children.

Emotion regulation in mothers and young children faced with trauma.

The present study investigated maternal emotion regulation as mediating the association between maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms and children's emotional dysregulation in a community sample of 431 Israeli mothers and children exposed to trauma. Little is known about the specific pathways through which maternal posttraumatic symptoms and deficits in emotion regulation contribute to emotional dysregulation. Inspired by the intergenerational process of relational posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in which posttraumatic distress is transmitted from mothers to children, we suggest an analogous concept of relational emotion regulation, by which maternal emotion regulation problems may contribute to child emotion regulation deficits. Child emotion regulation problems were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist-Dysregulation Profile (CBCL-DP; T.M. Achenbach & I. Rescorla, 2000), which is comprised of three subscales of the CBCL: Attention, Aggression, and Anxiety/Depression. Maternal PTSD symptoms were assessed by the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (E.B. Foa, L. Cashman, L. Jaycox, & K. Perry, 1997) and maternal emotion regulation by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (K.L. Gratz & L. Roemer, 2004). Results showed that the child's emotion regulation problems were associated with both maternal posttraumatic symptoms and maternal emotion dysregulation. Further, maternal emotion regulation mediated the association between maternal posttraumatic symptoms and the child's regulation deficits. These findings highlight the central role of mothers' emotion regulation skills in the aftermath of trauma as it relates to children's emotion regulation skills. The degree of mothers' regulatory skills in the context of posttraumatic stress symptoms reflects a key process through which the intergenerational transmission of trauma may occur. Study results have critical implications for planning and developing clinical interventions geared toward the treatment of families in the aftermath of trauma and, in particular, the enhancement of mothers' emotion regulation skills after trauma.

ERG30, a VAP-33-related protein, functions in protein transport mediated by COPI vesicles.

Intracellular transport of newly synthesized and mature proteins via vesicles is controlled by a large group of proteins. Here we describe a ubiquitous rat protein-endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi 30-kD protein (ERG30)-which shares structural characteristics with VAP-33, a 33-kD protein from Aplysia californica which was shown to interact with the synaptic protein VAMP. The transmembrane topology of the 30-kD ERG30 corresponds to a type II integral membrane protein, whose cytoplasmic NH(2) terminus contains a predicted coiled-coil motif. We localized ERG30 to the ER and to pre-Golgi intermediates by biochemical and immunocytochemical methods. Consistent with a role in vesicular transport, anti-ERG30 antibodies specifically inhibit intra-Golgi transport in vitro, leading to significant accumulation of COPI-coated vesicles. It appears that ERG30 functions early in the secretory pathway, probably within the Golgi and between the Golgi and the ER.

Metabolic Pathway of alpha-Ketoglutarate in Citrus Leaves as Affected by Phosphorus Nutrition.

The uptake and metabolism of alpha-[5-(14)C]ketoglutarate by phosphorus-deficient and full nutrient (control) lemon (Citrus limon) leaves were studied over various time intervals. After 45 minutes in P-deficient leaves, the bulk of incorporated (14)C appeared in organic acids and much less in amino acids, while in the control leaves, the (14)C contents of organic and amino acids were equal. In P-deficient leaves, after longer incubation times the (14)C content of organic acids and amino acids increased, while that of CO(2) and residue fractions remained low. In full nutrient leaves the (14)C content of amino acids and organic acids decreased after longer incubation time and increased in the insoluble residue and CO(2). In full nutrient leaves the organic and amino acid metabolism were closely related and accompanied by protein synthesis and CO(2) release, while in P-deficient leaves an accelerating accumulation of arginine and citric acid was linked together with inhibition of protein synthesis and CO(2) liberation.

Transcriptional analysis and promoter activity of the Spodoptera littoralis multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus ecdysteroid UDP-glucosyltransferase gene.

The ecdysteroid UDP-glucosyltransferase gene (egt) of Spodoptera littoralis multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (SpliMNPV) is a homologue of the Autographa californica MNPV (AcMNPV) egt gene, which has been found to block insect moulting. Infection of larvae with an egt-deleted AcMNPV resulted in enhanced mortality as compared to infection with the wild-type virus. Consequently, deletion of an egt gene has been proposed as a tempting approach for enhancing the insecticidal properties of baculoviruses. In a previous report we described the mapping and sequencing of the SpliMNPV egt gene. Here we use time-course Northern blot and biochemical analyses to show the production of egt transcripts and protein. The SpliMNPV egt transcription start sites were mapped to 22 and 25 nucleotides downstream of the TATA box by primer extension. Transient expression assays of chimeric egt promoter-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (cat) reporter gene constructs revealed low promoter activity that was transactivated by AcMNPV immediate-early viral protein IE-1.

Enhancer element, repetitive sequences and gene organization in an 8-kbp region containing the polyhedrin gene of the Spodoptera littoralis nucleopolyhedrovirus.

The Spodoptera littoralis multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (SpliMNPV) shows only a distant genetic relationship to other NPVs. In this report we describe the gene organization of an 8-kbp region of the SpliMNPV which contains the polyhedrin gene. The polyhedrin transcription initiation sites were mapped and the sequence and gene organization of an 8-kbp region of SpliMNPV were determined. The sequences downstream of the polyhedrin gene showed colinearity with the gene organization of other NPVs. An anticlockwise 1035-bp open reading frame (ORF), capable of encoding a proline-rich polypeptide, was found at the 3' end of the polyhedrin gene. followed by an 837-bp ORF encoding a putative protein kinase (PK), with an orientation similar to that of the polyhedrin gene. Sequences upstream of the polyhedrin gene were found to be unique to SpliMNPV and contained two regions consisting of highly repetitive sequences. One region, 980 bp in length and termed sequence repeat region 1 (SR1), contained a variety of short direct repeats, SR1 was found to act as a transcriptional enhancer in a transient expression assay. Additional regions containing different repetitive sequences were identified within the proline-rich ORF1035 and in sequences located downstream of the pk gene.

The p10 gene of Spodoptera littoralis nucleopolyhedrovirus: nucleotide sequence, transcriptional analysis and unique gene organization in the p10 locus.

The p10 gene of the Spodoptera littoralis (Spli) multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (MNPV) was identified. With a coding sequence of 315 nucleotides (nt), corresponding to a protein of 104 amino acids, the SpliMNPV p10 gene is the longest p10 gene known. This gene codes for a putative protein with an Mr of 11130 and was found to be most closely related to the Spodoptera exigua (Se) MNPV p10 (49.4% amino acid identity) and most distant from the Autographa californica (Ac) MNPV p10 (20.0% amino acid identity). Characterization of the protein's secondary structure and a comparison with other p10 protein species suggested that this p10 has an extended alpha-helical domain with high probability of forming a large coiled-coil structure. The p10 mRNA was about 1500 nt long, as determined by Northern blot analysis. Primer extension assay mapped three transcription start sites to a conserved baculovirus late promoter motif, TAAG. In the SpliMNPV genome, the p10 gene is not flanked by genes similar to p26 and p74, as found in SeMNPV, AcMNPV, Choristoneura fumiferana MNPV and Orgyia pseudotsugata MNPV. Instead, an open reading frame (ORF) of 945 bp is located downstream from the p10 gene and is followed by another ORF in opposite orientation, encoding the p74 protein. Upstream of the p10 sequences, an ORF of 552 bp was identified that potentially encodes a 184 amino acid protein of Mr 20925, which showed 52.2% identity with the encoded product of the SeMNPV xb187 gene.

Identification and nucleotide sequence of an ecdysteroid UDP-glucosyltransferase gene of Spodoptera littoralis multicapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus.

The Spodoptera littoralis multicapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus (SlMNPV) is a member of the Baculoviridae that shows a distant genetic relationship to the prototype Autographa californica MNPV (AcMNPV). Using an AcMNPV gene-specific probe, we identified and mapped an ecdysteroid UDP-glucosyltransferase (egt) gene in the genome of SlMNPV. Sequence determination of a part from the hybridizing DNA fragment revealed an open reading frame of 1548 nucleotides that exhibits 38% and 44% identity to the egt amino acid sequences of AcMNPV and Lymantria dispar MNPV (LdMNPV), respectively. Sequences flanking the SlMNPV egt gene, including the promoter region, were found to be unique to the virus. The presence of this nonstructural gene in SlMNPV and several other baculoviruses points to the importance of egt for the viral infection process.

Enhancement of serotonin uptake by cortisol: a possible link between stress and depression.

Stress and depression are characterized by elevation of circulating cortisol, as well as by changes in physiological functions. In this study, we addressed the possibility that elevated cortisol is also associated with the origin and development of depression. We report here that cortisol at the nM-microM concentration range induces a substantial increase in serotonin uptake both in vitro, by human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) and cortical neuronal cells, and in vivo, by rabbit PBLs, owing to promotion of synthesis of the serotonin transporter. These findings offer a novel molecular mechanism for depression associated with stress. Accordingly, the elevated cortisol induced by stress increases serotonin uptake, under both rest and nerve stimulation, which is overtly expressed in symptoms of depression.