Junctional adhesion molecules (JAMs) that are expressed in endothelial and epithelial cells and function in tight junction assembly, also perform important roles in testis where the closely-related JAM-A, JAM-B, and JAM-C are found. Disruption of murine Jam-B and Jam-C has varying effects on sperm development and function; however, deletion of Jam-A has not yet been studied. Here we show for the first time that in addition to expression in the Sertoli-Sertoli tight junctions in the seminiferous tubules, the approximately 32 kDa murine JAM-A is present in elongated spermatids and in the plasma membrane of the head and flagellum of sperm. Deletion of Jam-A, using the gene trap technology, results in flagellar defects at the ultrastructural level. In Jam-A-deficient mice, which have reduced litter size, both progressive and hyperactive motility are significantly affected (P<0.0001) before and, more severely, after capacitation. The findings show that JAM-A is involved in sperm tail formation and is essential for normal motility, which may occur via its signal transduction and protein phosphorylation properties. Detection of JAM-A in human sperm proteins indicates that its role may be conserved in sperm motility and that JAM-A may be a candidate gene for the analysis of idiopathic sperm motility defects resulting in male subfertility in the human population.

Doped (Al, Ga and In)-BNNS can be used as fascinating drug carriers for the NU drug.

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A B S T R A C TSynthesized nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) particles were applied for the degradation of a reactive dye Remazol Black B 133 and textile effluent. XRD and HR-TEM analysis of the synthesized particles showed body centered cubic crystal packing. The aggregates were spherical in shape and the size of the particles ranged from 5 to 15 nm. The reactive dye solution was substantially degraded by NZVI particles using ultrasonic irradiation under various experimental conditions created by varying NZVI dosages (0.15-0.30 g/L), initial dye concentration (25-200 mg/L), and pH (2-13). Experimental results suggest that NZVI particles work best within the pH range of 4-10. A unit gram of NZVI was found to degrade a maximum of 749.2 mg of RB B 133 dye and more than 80% of the dye was removed within 15 min of reaction time. During the degradation process, an oxidationreduction potential change from 196 to −577 mV was detected, indicating reductive condition is necessary for effective dye removal. FT-IR analysis of the end products of the degradation process indicated the presence of an amino (-NH 2 ) group resulting from the breakdown of the azo (-N=N-) group. Results suggest that the degradation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics with respect to dye concentration. The effluents of two textile industries were collected, characterized, and treated with NZVI particles, which led to the significant fall below the standard scale of American Dye Manufacturing Institute (ADMI). This lowering of ADMI value indicates that the overall color removal efficiency is irrespective of any specific dye present in the effluent.