Effect of the apterous 56f mutation on N -acetyltransferase and alkaline phosphatase activities in Drosophila melanogaster females

Alkaline phosphatase (AP) and N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activities were studied in 1-day-old Drosophila melanogaster females of the apterous ^56f (ap ^56f ) strain, having an decreased level of the juvenile hormone (JH) and a increased level of dopamine as a result of the mutation, and in the Canton S ancestral wild-type strain in the normal conditions and upon an experimental increase in JH titer. The AP and NAT activities in ap ^56f females were significantly lower than in Canton S females in the norm. JH application increased the AP activity of mutant females to the level characteristic to JH-treated wild-type females. Original Russian Text ? E.V. Bogomolova, N.V. Adonyeva, N.E. Gruntenko, I.Yu. Rauschenbach, 2008, published in Genetika, 2008, Vol. 44, No. 5, pp. 710–712.     

A synthesis of tritium-labeled juvenile hormone and radiometric analysis of the enzymatic hydrolysis level

A method of insect juvenile hormone III (JH-III) labeling by thermally activated tritium was developed. Purification of the labeled compound was performed on a TLC silica gel plate using a system of hexane-ethyl acetate 2: 1. The molar radioactivity of [³H]JH-III was 2.2 Ci mmol^–1. It was shown that tritium-labeled juvenile hormone can be used in the radiometric method for quantitative measurement of the activity of specific enzymes that hydrolyze juvenile hormone.     

Genes, regulating activity of alkaline phosphatase and tyrosine decarboxylase in Drosophila virilis, linked to chromosome 6]

The linkage group of genes controlling alkaline-phosphatase (AP) and tyrosine-decarboxylase (TDC) activities in Drosophila virilis adults was determined. D. virilis strain 160, with all autosomes marked with recessive morphological mutations, was used for the analysis. AP and TDC activities were significantly higher in strain 160 than in strain 147. The analysis of F2 hybrids, which carried one chromosome (one or both homologues) of strain 147 and the rest of strain 160, allowed the assignment of the genes controlling AP and TDC activities in D. virilis adults to chromosome 6.     

Effect of early thymectomy on the growth of transplanted mammary gland tumors developing in mouse line C3Hf]

Mammary tumours which developed in factorless C3Hf mice when transplanted to MTV-S+ and MTV-S- recipients were found to grow at the same rate' early thymectomy failed to influence their growth. The observed accelerated growth of mammary tumour transplants from C3H/He mice to MTV-S+ recipients, as compared to the MTV-S- ones, and inhibition of the tumour growth after early thymectomy seemed to be connected with the peculiarities of the immunological reaction to the virus-induced antigens.     

Development of a cellular immune response in a highly cancer-susceptible C3H/He strain of mice and its nonfactor substrain C3H/f after the transplantation of a syngeneic mammary gland tumor]

Syngeneic mammary gland tumor (MMT-1) grew slower in non-factor C3H/f (MTV-L) mice than in wirus-positive C3H/He (MTV-S) mice. The immunization of mice with tumor (MMT-1), inoculated and later excised, revealed a higher immune reactivity in the mice of the non-factor substrain. In studying the dynamics of the cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes in regional lymph nodes cytotoxically active lymphocytes were found to appear in C3H/f mice on day 6 after the inoculation of tumor (MMT-1), while the areactive state of lymphocytes was observed in C3H/He mice on days 3 and 24 and in C3H/f mice on day 24 after the inoculation of tumor (MMT-1). Spleen lymphocytes in C3H/f mice had no cytotoxic effect on tumor cells.     

Effect of the nude mutation on alpha-fetoprotein synthesis and hemopoiesis in the mouse liver in the postnatal period of development]

The dynamics of population of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-containing cells in the liver and the level of AFP in the blood of C3H/HeJ+/+ and thymus-less mutant C3H/HeJnu/nu mice during postnatal development was studied by means of indirect immunofluorescence and radial immunodiffusion. The content of AFP-positive hepatocytes and AFP concentration in the blood serum of C3H/HeJnu/nu mice were shown to exceed markedly those in C3H/HeJ+/+ mice beginning from the age of 2 weeks. The histological analyses has revealed the foci of hemopoiesis in the liver of adult C3H/HeJnu/nu mice, unlike in the liver of normal mice. The neonatal thymectomy of C3H/HeJ+/+ mice did not influence the parameters under study. A possible relationship between the increased AFP level and the preservation of hemopoiesis in the liver of the mice homozygous by the mutation nude is discussed.