Corticosteroid-binding globulin synthesis and distribution in rat white adipose tissue

The lactone isolated from Fusarium termed L659,699 is a potent specific inhibitor of the enzyme 3hydroxi3methylglutaril coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) synthase. In cultures of smooth muscle cells (SMC) isolated from aortic-arch of control (CSMC) and 5% of cholesterol diet (Ch-SMC) treated chicks, the incorporation of (¹⁴C)acetate to lipids (cholesterol, triacylglycerides and cholesterol ester) were greater in ChSMC cultures than in CSMC and the presence of 0.05 M L659,699 for 2 h in the incubation medium decrease the synthesis of cholesterol however the triacylglycerides synthesis increase. The effect of inhibitor is stronger in young cultures (3–4 steps) than in the older ones (11–12 steps). In young CSMC and ChSMC cultures the inhibition of cholesterol and triacylglycerides synthesis by L659,699 was reversal.     

Micropropagation of Frazinus angustifolia from mature and juvenile plant material

Micropropagation of Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl has been successfully achieved both from mature and juvenile plant material using shoot tip and nodal explants. Several basal media supplemented with benzyladenine (BA) and indolebutyric acid (IBA) were tested for shoot proliferation. The most new explants per mature explant (5.3) was obtained on DKW medium plus 4.4 M BA+0.98 M IBA. The most new explants per juvenile explant (5.6) was produced on QL medium plus 8.9 M BA+0.49 M IBA. Rooting was achieved on WPM supplemented with 0.98–4.9 M IBA. Rooted plantlets were transferred to soil and acclimatized with 85% survival.Abbreviations BA benzyladenine - IBA indolebutyric acid - NAA 1-naphthaleneacetic acid     

Reflections on Ernst Mayr's This is Biology

In this essay I argue that Ernst Mayr's idea that the emergence of evolutionary biology in Western thought was delayed by the pernicious influence of the false ideologies of Platonism, Christianity, and physicalism is ahistorical and anti-evolutionary, that similar ideas, especially his antipathy to physicalism, prejudice his account of the transformation of natural history and medical science into biology, that his organicist resolution of the perennial conflict between mechanism and vitalism is an unstable compound of semi-holism and semi-mechanism, that his conception of biology as the true bridge between the sciences and the humanities, ethics, and social theory is open to question (especially as to the adequacy of the theory of natural selection to account for every aspect of human nature), and that his depiction of science as the sovereign key to understanding everything known to exist or happen in this universe cannot be justified at the bar of reason.     

Rapid micropropagation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Curcuma longa</Emphasis> using bud explants pre-cultured in thidiazuron-supplemented liquid medium

Multiple shoots of Curcuma longa were induced by culture of bud explants for 1week in Murashige and Skoog (MS) liquid medium supplemented with 72.64M thidiazuron (TDZ) prior to culture on MS gelled medium without growth regulator for 8weeks. The regeneration rate was up to 11.4±1.7shoots/explant. Rooting was spontaneous and the regenerated plants were successfully transferred to soil. This protocol can be an alternative for rapid micropropagation of C. longa used for phytomedicine raw material production.     

A new enzymatic route to the synthesis of 12-ketoursodeoxycholic acid

Summary Cholic acid (3,7,12-trihydroxy-5-cholanoic acid) was completely and selectively transformed into 12-ketoursodeoxycholic acid (3,7-dihydroxy-12-oxo-5-cholanoic acid) by means of two consecutive enzymatic steps catalyzed, the first, by 7- and 12-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and, the second, by 7-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. Coenzyme regeneration was carried out with -ketoglutarate-glutamate dehydrogenase and glucose-glucose dehydrogenase, respectively.     

Ultrastructure and behaviour of the spindle pole body of the aphid-pathogenic fungusErynia neoaphidis

Summary A detailed account of the ultrastructure and behaviour of the spindle pole body (SPB) of the entomophthoraceous fungusErynia neoaphidis is presented for the first time.The SPB consists of extranuclear (ENC) and intranuclear (INC) components. The ENC is a saucepan-shaped structure which lies in a pocket of the nuclear envelope. It is composed of a forked, fibrillar handle and a shallow, cylindrical pan. The pan has a wall of two layers, both of which are thickened with a regular periodicity so that they appear to be beaded. It is postulated that the pan is formed from rough endoplasmic reticulum and that it synthesizes the amorphous, electron-dense material coating the ENC.The INC is a saucer-shaped, electron-dense plaque in which the ends of the spindle microtubules terminate. During metaphase, a clear zone separates the INC from the nuclear envelope and persists until telophase. The roles of the amorphous, electron-dense material and the clear zone as well as the method of SPB replication are discussed.     

Liver and intestinal fatty acid binding proteins in control and TGFβ1 gene targeted deficient mice

The effect of transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF1) expression on fatty acid binding proteins was examined in control and two strains of gene targeted TGF1-deficient mice. Homozygous TGF1-deficient 129 × CF-1, expressing multifocal inflammatory syndrome, had 25% less liver fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP) when compared to control mice. The decrease in L-FABP expression was not due to multifocal inflammatory syndrome since homozygous TGF1-deficient/immunodeficient C3H mice on a SLID background had 36% lower liver L-FABP than controls. This effect was developmentally related and specific to liver, but not the proximal intestine, where L-FABP is also expressed. Finally, the proximal intestine also expresses intestinal-FABP (1-FABP) which decreased 3-fold in the TGF1-deficient/immunodeficient C3H mice only. Thus, TGF1 appears to regulate the expression of L-FABP and I-FABP in the liver and the proximal intestine, respectively.Abbreviations L-FABP liver fatty acid binding protein - I-FABP intestinal fatty acid binding protein - TGF1 transforming growth factor beta-1 - TNF- tumor necrosis factor- - MIP- macrophage inflammatory protein- - PMSF phenylmethyl sulfonyl fluoride - PBS phosphate buffered saline     

On the role of the invariant glutamine at position 54 in the human choriogonadotropin β subunit

The twelve Cys and eight of the non-Cys residues are invariant in the glycoprotein hormone subunits from a variety of mammalian species. -Gin-54 of human lutropin (hLH) and choriogonadotropin (hCG) is one of these invariant amino acid residues. A single AG mutation in the LH gene of a patient presenting with hypogonadism resulted in the replacement of Gin-54 with Arg [1]. The authors also reported that an expressed mutant of hLH, with Arg replacing Gin-54, associated with the subunit, but there was no demonstrable binding of the mutant hormone to receptor. We have replaced Gin-54 in hCG with Glu and with Lys using site-directed mutagenesis. The expression plasmids pRSV-hCG (wild-type and mutants) were transiently transfected into CHO cells containing a stably integrated gene for bovine , and the media were analyzed for holoproteins, which were characterizedin vitro using competitive binding and steroidogenic assays with MA-10 cells. hCG(Glu-54) bound to almost as well as hCG wild-type, and the resulting heterodimer competed with [¹²⁵l]hCG binding to the LH/CG receptor and stimulated progesterone production to the same extent as the wild-type control. However, the apparent potencies, as judged by ED₅₀s, were less than those of the wild-type control, the effect being more pronounced in binding than in steroidogenesis. In contrast, hCG(Lys-54) associated very poorly with . Our results suggest that while Gin-54 in hCG participates in receptor binding, its major function appears to involve binding. Such dual functionality leads to interesting models for holoprotein formation and receptor binding.     

The human genes for the α and γ subunits of the mast cell receptor for immunoglobulin E are located on human chromosome band 1823

The receptor with high affinity for immunoglobulin E (FcERI) is a key molecule in triggering the allergic reaction. It is tetrameric complex of one subunit, one subunit, and two disulfide-linked subunits. This receptor is present exclusively on mast cells and basophils. Molecules identical to the subunit of FcRI also form cell surface complex with other Fc receptors such as mouse FcRIIa in macrophages and most probably with human FcRIII (CD16) in natural killer (NK) cells. Here we show by in situ hybridization that the human genes for the (FCER1A) and subunits (FCER1 G) of FcERI and the gene for FcRIII (FCGR3, CD16) are located on human chromosome band 1823.     

Structure of triphosphoryl nucleotide bound at the active site of yeast hexokinase: 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance study

Conformation of a nonhydrolyzable adenosine triphosphate (ATP) analogue, adenylyl-(,-methylene)-diphosphonate (AMPPCP) bound at the active site of yeast hexokinase-PII was determined by proton two-dimensional transferred nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (TRNOESY) and molecular dynamics simulations. The effect of the glucose-induced domain closure on the conformation of the nucleotide was evaluated by making measurements on two different complexes: PIIAMPPCPMg(II) and PIIGlcAMPPCPMg(II). TRNOE measurements were made at 500 MHz, 10°C, as a function of several mixing times varying in the range of 40 to 200 ms. Interproton distances derived from the analysis of NOE buildup curves were used as restraints in molecular dynamics simulations to determine the conformation of the enzyme bound nucleotide. The adenosine moiety was found to bind in high anti conformation with a glycosidic torsion angle = 48 ± 5 degrees in both complexes. However, significant differences in the conformations of the ribose and triphosphoryl chain of the nucleotide are observed between the two complexes. The phase angles of pseudorotation P in PIIAMPPCPMg(II) and PIIGlcAMPPCPMg(II) are 87 degrees and 77 degrees, describing a OE and OT₄ sugar pucker and the amplitudes of the sugar pucker () are 37 degrees and 61 degrees, respectively.     

Evolution of the interleukin-1 gene family in mammals

The phylogeny of interleukin-1 family genes shows that human interleukin-1 (IL-1) is more closely related to IL-1 of the bovine than to IL-1 of the mouse, whereas human interleukin-1 (IL-1) is more closely related to IL-1 of the mouse than to IL-1 of the bovine. The IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1) shows homology to the C-terminal region of both IL-1 and IL-1. In the C-terminal region, the IL-1 genes of human and mouse have diverged more from each other at nonsynonymous sites than have either IL-1 or IL-1; because the same pattern is not seen at synonymous sites, it must be due not to a difference in mutation rate but rather to a greater degree of functional constraint on this region in the IL-1 and IL-1 proteins than in the IL-1 protein. But synonymous sites in IL-1 of mouse have evolved more rapidly than in IL-1 of human, indicating a higher rate of mutation in the former gene. In the N-terminal region of the protein, nonsynonymous sites have evolved at similar rates in IL-1 and IL-1. The first exon of the IL-1 gene, which encodes the leader peptide, shows evidence of homology with the first exon of IL-1, which is not translated. Thus, it seems likely that IL-1 evolved by duplication of an IL-1 gene and loss of expression of exons 2–4. Correspondence to: A.L. Hughes     

T-cell receptor gene rearrangements and expression in normal human large granular lymphocytes (LGL) and their pathological expansions

The lineage to which normal large granular lymphocytes/natural killer (LGL/NK) cells belong is controversial; in fact they share some surface markers and functional activities with monocytes, but also with T lymphocytes. The relationship of LGL to the T cell lineage by analysis with the T cell receptor (T-rec) gene has been investigated. Pure preparations of human LGL and their CD11⁺ CD8^- and CD11^- CD8⁺ subsets had the T gene in its unrearranged germline configuration. Expression of T and T genes was not detectable. The organization of T gene, which is of particular importance because it occurs early in T cell ontogeny, was also found in its germline configuration.A rare type of lymphoproliferative disorder, termed T-LPD, is characterized by expansion of cells very similar to LGL for morphology, phenotype, and functional activity. Of 17 patients with T-LPD studied for T-rec rearrangement, 15 displayed rearrangement of T and T loci and were CD3+ (14/15 had monoclonal rearrangement), while 2 cases were in germline configuration and were CD3–. Similarly to very small subsets of CD3+ LGL recently described, most T-LPD cases are CD3+ and have T-rec genes rearranged. These data suggest that either a subset of LGL or a particular step of differentiation may be related to the T cell lineage; they also demonstrate that, in contrast to previous views, most TLPD are monoclonal, presumably neoplastic, lymphoproliferative disorders.Abbreviations LGL large granular lymphocytes - NK natural killer - T-rec T-cell receptor - TLPD T lymphoproliferative disease     

Novel promoter and splice junction defects add to the genetic,clinical or geographic heterogeneity of β-thalassaemia in the Portuguese population

Summary In order to delineate the spectrum and the relative abundance of -globin gene defects causing thalassaemia in the Portuguese population, a representative sample was analysed including 51 -thalassaemia carriers along with 26 patients representing different clinical phenotypes. Seven mutations were identified, four of which [codon 39 (CT), 39%; intervening sequence (IVS)1 nucleotide (nt) 1 (GA), 26%; IVS1 nt 110 (GA), 17%; IVS1 nt6 (TC), 15%] account for 97% of 93 -thalassaemia chromosomes. Two previously undescribed mutations, namely a CT substitution at position — 90 in the proximal CACCC box, and the deletion of nucleotides 4 and 5 (AG) in IVS 2 were identified. The uncommon, though ubiquitous, GT transversion at codon 121 was found once upon haplotype V. Direct prenatal diagnosis can be offered to 95% of couples at risk of bearing a thalassaemic child.     

Interferons up-regulate with different potency HLA class I antigen expression in M14 human melanoma cell line. Possible interaction with glucocorticoid hormones

The relative potency of interferon (IFN), interferon (IFN), and interferon (IFN) in inducing the expression of HLA class I antigens, as well as their capacity to counteract the inhibition induced by glucocorticoid hormones on HLA class I antigen expression, were analysed in the human melanoma cell line M14, both at membrane and at mRNA level. The data obtained indicate that (a) IFN enhance with different potency (IFN>IFN>IFN) the expression of HLA class I antigens in M14 cells, (b) prednisone inhibits HLA class I antigen expresion, (c) glucocorticoid hormones, when associated with IFN or IFN, inhibit the HLA class I enhancement induced by IFN alone, and ffinally, (c) the association between 1 M prednisone or 1 M deflazacort and IFN seems to potentiate the enhancing capacity of IFN on the expression of HLA class I molecules at the mRNA level. These findings, if confirmed, might indicate that IFN and glucocorticoid hormones are not mutually exclusive in the management of human melanoma.     

Procedures for the axenic isolation of conchocelis and monospores from the red seaweed Porphyra yezoensis

In order to maintain axenic seedstock cultures axenically of thecommercially important red seaweed, Porphyra yezoensis, aprocedure was developed for axenic isolation and culture of conchocelis andmonospores. For axenic isolation of the conchocelis, contaminated microalgaewere most effectively removed by filtering contaminated samples through a100-m mesh after sonication. Removal of bacteria and otheralgaewas accomplished using a mixture of 5 agents (0.02% chitosan, 100 gml^–1 GeO₂, 10 gml^–1 ampicillin, 40 gml^–1 kanamycin and 200 gml^–1 streptomycin). Axenic single colonies wereisolatedfrom a semi-solid medium prepared from 1% transfer gel. After collectingmonospores from the 40–50% density layer on a percoll-gradient, removalofbacteria and fungi from the monospores was accomplished using a mixture of 5antibiotics (3.5 g ml^–1 nystatin, 2 mgml^–1 ampicillin, 400 gml^–1 kanamycin, 50 gml^–1 neomycin and 800 gml^–1 streptomycin). Axenic single juvenile blades wereisolated from a semi-solid medium prepared from 0.5% transfer gel.     

Metal Cations Defibrillize the Amyloid Beta-Protein Fibrils

Amyloid beta-protein (A) is the major constituent of amyloid fibrils composing -amyloid plaques and cerebrovascular amyloid in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We studied the effect of metal cations on preformed fibrils of synthetic A by Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence spectroscopy and electronmicroscopy (EM) in negative staining. The amount of cross beta-pleated sheet structure of A 1–40 fibrils was found to decrease by metal cations in a concentration-dependent manner as measured by ThT fluorescence spectroscopy. The order of defibrillization of A 1–40 fibrils by metal cations was: Ca²⁺ and Zn²⁺ (IC₅₀ = 100 M) > Mg²⁺ (IC₅₀ = 300 M) > Al³⁺ (IC₅₀ =1.1 mM). EM analysis in negative staining showed that A 1–40 fibrils in the absence of cations were organized in a fine network with a little or no amorphous material. The addition of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and Zn²⁺ to preformed A 1–40 fibrils defibrillized the fibrils or converted them into short rods or to amorphous material. Al³⁺ was less effective, and reduced the fibril network by about 80 % of that in the absence of any metal cation. Studies with A 1–42 showed that this peptide forms more dense network of fibrils as compared to A 1–40. Both ThT fluorescence spectroscopy and EM showed that similar to A 1–40, A 1–42 fibrils are also defibrillized in the presence of millimolar concentrations of Ca²⁺. These studies suggest that metal cations can defibrillize the fibrils of synthetic A.     

Mauritania: A neocolonial desert

Conclusion The Mauritanian ruling class, imposed upon the masses in 1960, continued to be assisted and advised by French cooperants techniques in the post-colonial period working closely with international finance capital, and have been promising their subjects that the construction of their society depended on the successful operation of multinational cooperation, represented in the country by MIFERMA and SOMIMA. By the 1970's it became clear to the majority of the Mauritanian people that these foreign firms were carrying out the systematic pillage of their resources rather than stimulating the development of their country; and that the rapid growth of the extractive sector was part of a radical process of peripherization, which has woven the Mauritanian economy and society into the capitalist center. Moreover, external economic aid pushed the neo-colonial state into the debt trap. Accordingly, Bonte observed that while production apparently increased and while private capital certainly flowed into the country, it flowed out in even larger quantities. These flows led to a persistent deficit in the balance of payment and to a growing debt [95]. This trend has been worsening in recent years. Without loans from European, American, and conservative Arab regimes, the neo-colonial state would have collapsed financially. Indeed, from 1970 to 1975, foreign loans provided between 75 and 90 percent of the funds for the governmental development programs [96].The social conditions of the people drastically worsened in the 1970's. For instance, in 1976 a government official admitted that only 15 percent of the total population received medical attention. Moreover, the activities of the multinational corporations have destroyed the supportive communal structures of the rural masses which, in the past, have minimized the consequences of drought and other economic crises. When the 1969–74 drought occurred, innumerable droughtstricken nomads and subsistence agriculturalists found themselves helpless and completely destitute. Confronted with such as state of affairs, they had no alternative but to flee to the mushrooming slums surrounding the urban centers, there to lead mutilated and mutilating lives.For these masses neither Mauritanianization nor nationalization have prevented their growing immiseration. The extractive activities, whether under the aegis of multinational corporations or state-owned companies, which remain dependent on finance capital and its market, cannot resolve the fundamental problems of the Mauritanian people. On the contrary, the operations of these foreigndominated companies negate the possibility of a liberating, diversified industrial process that relies on, assesses and takes into account the primary needs of the people. Only an industry that results in large employment effects generated in proportion to the amount of capital invested and whose management is assumed to a large degree by the producers themselves, can achieve deep development of a country like Mauritania. Extractive industry controlled by multinational corporations cannot generate positive linkage effects [97] to the local economic sectors powerful enough to effectuate their development within a well-planned, culturally integrated, and economically fruitful national social economy. A neo-colonial state of the Mauritanian type — ruled by a class that owes its ascension to power to a retreating colonialism — formed as a mediating mechanism for prolonging the foreign exploitation of its own resources — cannot resolve the basic problems of the people. In short, when the iron ore of Mauritania is worked out, that country will go back to the desert [98]. However, this observation by Amin is apocalyptic, pessimistic, and dangerously deterministic. Another, more viable, more human, alternative is for the northwestern African peoples to extricate themselves from the world capitalist system, and its local comprador bourgeois allies. They must find a way to dis-establish the neo-colonial, inviable statelets and replace them with a confederation of socialist republics devoted to the elimination of exploitation and the construction of authentic national cultures.Mahfoud Bennoune is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Stockton State College, Pomona, New Jersey.     

Polysaccharide and protein secretion by grass microhairs

Summary Secretory activities of bicellular microhairs from grasses belonging to the subfamilies Chloridoideae, Arundinoideae, Panicoideae, and Bambusoideae, and including the chloridoid, panicoid and Enneapogon microhair morphological types, have been investigated. Light microscopic histochemistry indicated that all microhairs studied secrete polysaccharide and protein (or glycoprotein), including those which also secrete salt. Localization of polysaccharide at ultrastructural level using periodic acid-thiocarbohydrazidesilver proteinate staining revealed that in panicoid type microhairs dictyosomes are involved in polysaccharide secretion, whereas in the chloridoid and Enneapogon types partitioning membranes seem to be involved instead.Abbreviations Ag silver precipitates representing localization of polysaccharide - BC basal cell - C cuticle - CC cap cell - CH cuticular chamber - CN system of membrane bound channels and vesicles - CP chloroplast - CW cell wall - D dictyosomes - M mitochondria - N nucleus - PTM partitioning membranes - RER rough endoplasmic reticulum - S secretory material - St starch grain - US unstained dictyosome cisternae - V vesicle