Enterococcal and streptococcal species isolated from faeces of calves, young cattle and dairy cows.

Faeces from non-ruminating calves were found to contain several species of enterococci: Enterococcus avium, Ent. cecorum, Ent. durans, Ent. faecalis, Ent. faecium and Ent. hirae. Enterococcus faecalis was the most frequent. Few of these animals carried streptococci. Streptococcus bovis largely predominated in ruminating calves, young cattle and dairy cows. Other streptococci as well as enterococci were infrequent in dairy cows, but a variety of other streptococci and enterococci were found in the faeces of young ruminating animals.     

Site-specific integration of the temperate bacteriophage phi adh into the Lactobacillus gasseri chromosome and molecular characterization of the phage (attP) and bacterial (attB) attachment sites.

The temperate bacteriophage phi adh integrates its genome into the chromosomal DNA of Lactobacillus gasseri ADH by a site-specific recombination process. Southern hybridization analysis of BclI-digested genomic DNA from six relysogenized derivatives of the prophage-cured strain NCK102 displayed phage-chromosomal junction fragments identical to those of the lysogenic parent. The phi adh attachment site sequence, attP, was located within a 365-bp EcoRI-HindIII fragment of phage phi adh. This fragment was cloned and sequenced. DNA sequence analysis revealed striking features common to the attachment sites of other site-specific recombination systems: five direct repeats of the sequence TGTCCCTTTT(C/T) and a 14-bp inverted repeat. Oligonucleotides derived from the sequence of the attP-containing fragment enabled us to amplify predicted junction fragment sequences and thus to identify attL, attR, and attB. The core region was defined as the 16-bp sequence TACACTTCTTAGGAGG. Phage-encoded functions essential for site-specific insertion of phage phi adh were located in a 4.5-kb BclI fragment. This fragment was cloned in plasmid pSA34 to generate the insertional vector pTRK182. Plasmid pTRK182 was introduced into L. gasseri NCK102 by electroporation. Hybridization analysis showed that a single copy of pTRK182 had integrated at the attB site of the NCK102 erythromycin-resistant transformants. This is the first site-specific recombination system described in lactobacilli, as well as the first attP-based site-specific integration vector constructed for L. gasseri ADH.     

The effect of feeding on plasma immunoreactive ACTH and beta-endorphin levels in newborn infant.

In order to clarify whether an interaction between endogenous opioids and feeding occurs at birth, we studied Beta-endorphin (beta-EP) and ACTH plasma levels in response to a feed of 10% glucose, or formula, in 120 healthy full-term infants. Neither postprandial beta-EP nor ACTH increases were found at the 24th hour or on the fourth day of life. beta-EP physiology in newborn infants seems to be different from adults.     

Epilithic diatom community response to years of P04 fertilization: Kuparuk River,Alaska (68 N Lat.)

An arctic river was fertilized continuously through the ice-free season with phosphoric acid beginning in 1983. The epilithic diatom community increased in biomass in the first two years in response to the added limiting nutrient (Peterson et al., 1983). The diatom community switched from one dominated by Hannea arcus to one dominated by species of Achnanthes and Cymbella. The immediate responses to the P-addition were decreases in both the Shannon diversity and evenness indices. By the second year, the community diversity increased downriver reaching maximal species richness (110–127 spp). In 1985–1987, the epilithic algal biomass decreased an order of magnitude with both whole-river PO₄ (1985, 1987) and PO₄ + NH₄ addition (1986). In the 5th summer of fertilization, the reduction in biomass was clearly caused by a numerical increase of grazing, refugia-building chironomids (Orthocladiinae, primarily) (Gibeau, 1991; Gibeau, Miller, Hershey, in prep.). We assume the algal biomass reduction in the 3rd and 4th years was similarly caused by grazers with a two year time lag in the numerical response of these monovoltine species. The evenness of the community increased in 1986 as if it might have been grazed; however the number of immigrants was reduced. The community became dominated by Eunotia, Cymbella and Achnanthes, species either fast growing or more prostrate, as the erect species of Hannea Diatoma, and Fragillaria declined. A detrended correspondence analysis of the temporal and spatial diatom samples in species space (186 spp.) showed that the largest variation in the community was between years and less variation was associated with river fertilization. Samples from bioassay tubes run by Peterson et al. (1983) in the Kuparuk River showed P and N + P limitation as found in the river in 1983–84. Like the river samples, the largest change in the diatom community occurred between 15 and 25 day samples, more than that induced by fertilization. Diatoms sampled from all treatments taken at day 25 were more similar to one another than those sampled at day 15. Diatoms colonizing glass slides used in the bioassay tubes were dominated by Achnanthes linearis and Cymbella minuta. Of the 84 species found in bioassays, 26 species were present in all river samples for 4 years. Differences in the communities discriminated by multivariate methods were cause by changes in rare species and abundance patterns of common species.     

Specific phosphorylation of a COOH-terminal site on the full-length form of the alpha 1 subunit of the skeletal muscle calcium channel by cAMP-dependent protein kinase.

The primary (alpha 1) subunit of purified skeletal muscle dihydropyridine-sensitive calcium channels is present in full-length (212 kDa) and truncated (190 kDa) forms which are both phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cA-PK) in vitro. In the present study, phosphorylation of the purified calcium channel by cA-PK followed by immunoprecipitation, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and two-dimensional phosphopeptide mapping revealed differential phosphorylation of the related 190- and 212-kDa forms. The 190-kDa form of the alpha 1 subunit was phosphorylated on three major and three minor tryptic phosphopeptides; the 212-kDa form was phosphorylated on all six of these phosphopeptides plus two that were unique. Time course experiments showed that a single site on the COOH-terminal portion of the full-length form of the alpha 1 subunit is most intensely and rapidly (within 10 s) phosphorylated. Phosphorylation occurs almost exclusively on this COOH-terminal site unless harsh conditions such as treatment with denaturing detergents are employed to expose phosphorylation sites within the 190-kDa segment of the molecule. Elution of phosphopeptides from the second dimension chromatograph followed by immunoprecipitation with an anti-peptide antibody (anti-CP1) directed against the COOH-terminal amino acid sequence enabled us to identify this major phosphorylation site as serine 1854. The nearby consensus sites for cA-PK phosphorylation at serines 1757 and 1772 were phosphorylated only after denaturation or proteolytic cleavage. Phosphorylation of serine 1854 may play a pivotal role in the regulation of calcium channel function by cA-PK.     

O-glycosylation of intact and truncated ribophorins in brefeldin A- treated cells: newly synthesized intact ribophorins are only transiently accessible to the relocated glycosyltransferases

Ribophorins I and II are type I transmembrane glycoproteins of the ER that are segregated to the rough domains of this organelle. Both ribophorins appear to be part of the translocation apparatus for nascent polypeptides that is associated with membrane-bound ribosomes and participate in the formation of a proteinaceous network within the ER membrane that also includes other components of the translocation apparatus. The ribophorins are both highly stable proteins that lack O-linked sugars but each contains one high mannose N-linked oligosaccharide that remains endo H sensitive throughout their lifetimes. We have previously shown (Tsao, Y. S., N. E. Ivessa, M. Adesnik, D. D. Sabatini, and G. Kreibich. 1992. J. Cell Biol. 116:57-67) that a COOH-terminally truncated variant of ribophorin I that contains only the first 332 amino acids of the luminal domain (RI332), when synthesized in permanent transformants of HeLa cells, undergoes a rapid degradation with biphasic kinetics in the ER itself and in a second, as yet unidentified nonlysosomal pre-Golgi compartment. We now show that in cells treated with brefeldin A (BFA) RI332 molecules undergo rapid O-glycosylation in a multistep process that involves the sequential addition of N-acetylgalactosamine, galactose, and terminal sialic acid residues. Addition of O-linked sugars affected all newly synthesized RI332 molecules and was completed soon after synthesis with a half time of about 10 min. In the same cells, intact ribophorins I and II also underwent O-linked glycosylation in the presence of BFA, but these molecules were modified only during a short time period immediately after their synthesis was completed, and the modification affected only a fraction of the newly synthesized polypeptides. More important, these molecules synthesized before the addition of BFA were not modified by O-glycosylation. The same is true for ribophorin I when overexpressed in HeLa cells although it is significantly less stable than the native polypeptide in control cells. We, therefore, conclude that soon after their synthesis, ribophorins lose their susceptibility to the relocated Golgi enzymes that effect the O-glycosylation, most likely as a consequence of a conformational change in the ribophorins that occurs during their maturation, although it cannot be excluded that rapid integration of these molecules into a supramolecular complex in the ER membrane leads to their inaccessibility to these enzymes.     

Transforming growth factor-beta enhances calcitonin-induced cyclic AMP production and the number of calcitonin receptors in long-term cultures of human umbilical cord blood monocytes in the presence of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol.

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is a multifunctional polypeptide, abundant in bone, that regulates both proliferation and differentiation of a wide variety of cells, but its role in osteoclast differentiation remains controversial. We have recently shown that long-term cultures of human cord blood monocytes, in the presence of 1,25 dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25-(OH)2D3), give rise to cells that express two markers of the osteoclast phenotype, namely, the vitronectin receptor (VNR) and the calcitonin receptor (CTR). TGF-beta enhanced the proportion of cells expressing the VNR. In the present study, we investigated the effect of TGF-beta on the expression of CTR in cord blood monocytes cultured during 3 weeks in the presence of 1,25-(OH)2D3. When added within the first 2 weeks of culture, TGF-beta (500 pg/ml) significantly decreased the cell protein content. TGF-beta alone did not stimulate basal cAMP production. The 10 nM-sCT-stimulated cAMP production was enhanced by increasing TGF-beta concentrations from 50 pg/ml to 1,000 pg/ml: for 500 pg/ml TGF-beta, it was 294 +/- 28% vs. 140 +/- 25% for control cultures (p less than 0.01). The sCT dose-response curves showed a higher cAMP production from 10(-9) M to 10(-7) M of sCT in the presence of 500 pg/ml TGF-beta than in control cultures. The increase was 325 +/- 36% in the presence of TGF-beta and 195 +/- 13% in the absence of TGF-beta, for 10(-7) M sCT (p less than 0.01). This effect of TGF-beta on cAMP production was not observed either when it was added to monocyte cultures the last day or 2 hours before the end of the culture or in MCF7, a human breast cancer cell line that expresses CTR. [125I]-sCT binding studies performed on confluent cells showed similar Kd in control and TGF-beta-treated cells. By contrast, the CTR number was significantly increased in the presence of TGF-beta: 6.1 +/- 2 x 10(4) receptors per cell in control cultures and 28.8 +/- 8.1 x 10(4) receptors per cell in TGF-beta-treated cultures (p less than 0.05). It is thus suggested that TGF-beta increases the number of CTR of these cells that have other features of preosteoclasts. The role of this cytokine on the process of osteoclast differentiation and in bone resorption is thus emphasized.     

Affinity Purification of Human τ Proteins and the Construction of a Sensitive Sandwich Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Human τ Detection

Immunoaffinity chromatography with a monoclonal antibody produced against bovine tau protein was used to purify tau proteins from human brain. Fifty grams of brain tissue yielded approximately 2 mg of pure tau proteins. The affinity-purified human tau was used to produce a high-titered rabbit anti-human tau serum. The monoclonal anti-tau antibody and the polyclonal rabbit anti-tau serum were then used to construct a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of human tau proteins, with a sensitivity of 1 ng/ml.     

MK-801 Prevents 1-Methyl-4-Phenyl-1,2,3,6-Tetrahydropyridine-Induced Parkinsonism in Primates

In cynomologus monkeys, systemic administration of MK-801, a noncompetitive antagonist for the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, prevented the development of the parkinsonian syndrome induced by the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). MK-801 also attenuated dopamine depletion in the caudate and putamen and protected dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra from the degeneration induced by the neurotoxin. Nevertheless, 7 days after MPTP administration in the caudate and putamen of monkeys also receiving MK-801, the levels of toxic 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium were even higher than those measured in monkeys receiving MPTP alone. This indicates that the protective action of MK-801 is not related to MPTP metabolism and strongly suggests that, in primates, the excitatory amino acids could play a crucial role in the mechanism of the selective neuronal death induced by MPTP.     

Pattern formation in one- and two-dimensional shape-space models of the immune system.

A large-scale model of the immune network is analyzed, using the shape-space formalism. In this formalism, it is assumed that the immunoglobulin receptors on B cells can be characterized by their unique portions, or idiotypes, that have shapes that can be represented in a space of a small finite dimension. Two receptors are assumed to interact to the extent that the shapes of their idiotypes are complementary. This is modeled by assuming that shapes interact maximally whenever their coordinates in the space-space are equal and opposite, and that the strength of interaction falls off for less complementary shapes in a manner described by a Gaussian function of the Euclidean "distance" between the pair of interacting shapes. The degree of stimulation of a cell when confronted with complementary idiotypes is modeled using a log bell-shaped interaction function. This leads to three possible equilibrium states for each clone: a virgin, an immune, and a suppressed state. The stability properties of the three possible homogeneous steady states of the network are examined. For the parameters chosen, the homogeneous virgin state is stable to both uniform and sinusoidal perturbations of small amplitude. A sufficiently large perturbation will, however, destabilize the virgin state and lead to an immune reaction. Thus, the virgin system is both stable and responsive to perturbations. The homogeneous immune state is unstable to both uniform and sinusoidal perturbations, whereas the homogeneous suppressed state is stable to uniform, but unstable to sinusoidal, perturbations. The non-uniform patterns that arise from perturbations of the homogeneous states are examined numerically. These patterns represent the actual immune repertoire of an animal, according to the present model. The effect of varying the standard deviation sigma of the Gaussian is numerically analyzed in a one-dimensional model. If sigma is large compared to the size of the shape-space, the system attains a fixed non-uniform equilibrium. Conversely if sigma is small, the system attains one out of many possible non-uniform equilibria, with the final pattern depending on the initial conditions. This demonstrates the plasticity of the immune repertoire in this shape-space model. We describe how the repertoire organizes itself into large clusters of clones having similar behavior. These results are extended by analyzing pattern formation in a two-dimensional (2-D) shape-space.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)