Idioms of distress: Somatic responses to distress in everyday life

In-depth interviews were conducted among 50 subjects residing in the industrial town of Newcastle, Australia. Half of these subjects were from the general population and half were currently seeking counselling for personal/family problems. None of the subjects were receiving any medical care at the time of interview, though seven had done so during the episode of distress they were discussing. The study shows that while the subjects psychologized their problems, members of both groups tended to somatize at a rate proportional to the level of distress. Subjects were unaware of any relationship between the distress they were experiencing and their physical complaints. The results of this study support previous research which argues that those experiencing distress and those who tend to introspect are also those who are likely to amplify somatic symptoms. At the same time these results depart from findings in the United States which suggest that in the West, people learn to express social and personal distress in psychological terms,, thereby reducing the level of somatization. Though not representative of the population as a whole, the findings raised questions warranting further study.     

Cross-reactivity of a monoclonal antiglucocorticoid receptor antibody BuGR1 with glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors of various species

The reactivity of a monoclonal antibody BuGR1, raised against glucocorticoid receptors of rat liver, with glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors of mammalian (rabbit) and amphibian (A6 cells) origin was examined. The glucocorticoid receptors of rabbit kidney and liver and of A6 cells were labeled with tritiated dexamethasone. The mineralocorticoid receptors were labeled with tritiated aldosterone in the presence or absence of RU26988, depending on whether aldosterone was bound to glucocorticoid receptors (A6 cells) or not (rabbit kidney), in addition to its binding to mineralocorticoid receptors. BuGR1 did not recognize mineralocorticoid receptors of A6 cells and rabbit kidney. BuGR1 cross-reacted with glucocorticoid receptors of rabbit liver and kidney but not of A6 cells, suggesting that the domain of glucocorticoid receptors recognized by BuRG1 could be present only in the mammalian species. The findings indicate that BuGR1 shows species differences as well as receptor class specificity.     

Affinity of corticosteroids for mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors of the rabbit kidney: effect of steroid substitution

Corticosteroid derivatives coupled in the C3, C7 or C17 position with a long aliphatic chain were synthesized in order to select a suitable ligand for the preparation of a biospecific affinity adsorbent for mineralocorticoid receptor purification. The affinity of these derivatives for mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) and glucocorticoid receptors (GR) was explored in rabbit kidney cytosol. In this model, aldosterone bound to a single class of receptors with high affinity (Kd 1 nM) and mineralocorticoid specificity. RU26988, a highly specific ligand for GR, did not compete for these sites. The C7 and C17 positions were found to be of crucial importance in the steroid's interaction with the mineralocorticoid receptors, since the linkage of a long side chain in these positions induced complete loss of affinity. Hence, deoxycorticosterone no longer bound to MR after 17 beta substitution with a 9-carbon aliphatic chain. This loss of affinity was not observed for glucocorticoids. The 17 beta nonylamide derivative of dexamethasone still competed for GR. Increasing the length of the C7 side of the spirolactone SC26304 suppressed its affinity for MR. Finally, C3 was an appropriate position for steroid substitution. The 3-nonylamide of carboxymethyloxime deoxycorticosterone bound to MR but not to GR, and therefore constitutes a suitable ligand for the preparation of a mineralocorticoid adsorbent.     

An X-autosome fusion chromosome of Caenorhabditis elegans

Summary The translocation mnT12(IV;X) is a fusion of holocentric chromosomes IV and X, the breakpoints occurring near the left end of IV and the right end of X. Animals homozygous for mnT12 are viable and fertile; they contain five pairs of chromosomes rather than the normal set of six pairs. The mnT12 chromosome is larger than all wild-type chromosomes and thus identifies linkage groups IV and X cytologically. Hermaphrodites heterozygous for mnT12 show high frequency meiotic nondisjunction both between mnT12 and the X chromosome, which results in a high incidence of male self progeny (27% compared to the wild-type incidence of 0.2%), and between mnT12 and chromosome IV, which results in a high incidence of self progeny essentially trisomic for chromosome IV (karyotype IV/mnT12/mnT12). The viability of chromosome IV trisomics has been confirmed by constructing animals trisomic for only normal copies of chromosome IV; these animals are morphologically wild type. Meiotic chromosome disjunction in mnT12 homozygotes appears to be normal, although the frequency of recombination between markers that are normally X-linked is significantly reduced. Males of genotype IV/mnT12/0 are fertile. They can be thought of as having a neo-X(mnT12) neo-Y(normal IV) karyotype since it is possible to maintain a male-hermaphrodite stock of C. elegans consisting of such males and hermaphrodites carrying two neo-X chromosomes and no neo-Y; the organism is thus converted from an XO:XX type of sex determination to an XX:XX system.     

Vicilin genes ofPisum

Summary We describe four genomic clones of pea 7S storage protein gene, one of which corresponds to convicilin, and the others to vicilin. Hybridization studies exploiting these clones, and previously identified cDNA clones, have enabled us to define six different loci. Three of these loci have been mapped to positions on chromosome 7.     

Multiple transformation of plant cells by Agrobacterium may be responsible for the complex organization of T-DNA in crown gall and hairy root

Summary Inoculation of carrot discs and Lotus corniculatus plantlets with mixtures of different Agrobacterium rhizogenes or of A. rhizogenes and A. tumefaciens or with Agrobacterium strains harboring both an Ri and a modified Ti plasmid resulted in frequent multiple (pluribacterial) transformation of cells, as revealed by the mixed opine-type of hairy roots arising from them. Multiple transformation may account for the presence of dispersed T-DNA inserts in crown gall and hairy root lines. A plant genetic engineering strategy based on segregation of T-DNA inserts in the progeny of multiple transformants is proposed.     

Natural killer activity of kurloff cells: A direct demonstration on purified kurloff cell suspensions

In order to study their natural killer effect, guinea pig splenic Kurloff cells were fractionated by Percoll discontinuous density gradient centrifugation. Kurloff cells were collected and tested for cytotoxicity in a 24-hr chromium-release test. Comparison of different splenic cellular samples (of males or estrogenized females) with increasing percentage of Kurloff cells, revealed a highly significant positive correlation (r = 0.93, α < 0.01) with the cellular cytotoxicity developed against the K 562 target cells.     

Genetic analysis and molecular cloning of the Escherichia coli ruv gene

Summary The genetic organisation of the ruv gene, a component of the SOS system for DNA repair and recombination in Escherichia coli, was investigated. New point mutations as well as insertions and deletions were generated using transposon Tn10 inserted in eda as a linked marker for site specific mutagenesis, or directly as a mutagen. The mutations were ordered with respect to one another and previously isolated ruv alleles by means of transductional crosses. The direction of chromosome mobilization from ruv:: Mud(Ap^R lac)strains carrying F42lac ⁺ established that ruv is transcribed in a counterclockwise direction. Recombinant phages able to restore UV resistance to ruv mutants were identified, and the ruv ⁺ region was subcloned into a low copy number plasmid. The ruv ⁺ plasmid was able to correct the extreme radiation sensitivity and recombination deficiency of ruv recBC sbcB strains.