Site-specific DNA damage caused by lipid peroxidation products

DNA damage induced by autoxidized lipids was investigated using covalently closed circular (supercoiled) DNA and DNA fragments of defined sequence. DNA-strand-breaking substances accumulated during autoxidation of methyl linolenate, and strand breakage was measured with samples taken at different times. The DNA-strand-breaking activity reached its maximum a little after the peak value of peroxide and decreased upon further autoxidation. The peak of the DNA-strand-breaking activity did not always coincide with the peak of thiobarbituric acid reactants or of conjugated diene, either. The DNA-strand-breaking reaction was dependent on metal ions and was inhibited by potassium iodide and tiron and partially by catalase, suggesting the involvement of radical species and/or oxygen radicals. No direct cleavage of singly end-labeled 100-200 basepair DNA fragments by autoxidized methyl linolenate and cupric ion was detected under the conditions used. Cleavage occurred during subsequent heating in piperidine after the reaction. The alkali-labile damage was preferentially induced at pyrimidine residues, especially in dinucleotide sequences of pyrimidine-guanine (5'----3'), which was determined by sequencing.     

Stopped-flow rapid kinetics of anesthetic-induced phase transition in phospholipid vesicle membranes: nonlocalized fluctuation

Kinetics of the gel to liquid-crystalline phase transition of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicle membrane was studied by the stopped-flow technique with turbidity detection. The observed change in turbidity was well characterized by a single-exponential decay curve with relaxation time in the millisecond range, although the existence of a faster process than the dead-time of the stopped-flow apparatus was inferred from the amplitude analysis. Relaxation times were determined as functions of 1-hexanol concentration and temperature just below phase transition. From the analysis based on the theories of nonequilibrium relaxation, it is concluded that the phase transition induced by 1-hexanol is governed by a nonlocalized fluctuation mechanism. The anesthetic-induced nonequilibrium state is unstable rather than metastable.     

Immunohistochemical studies of the serotonergic supraependymal plexus in the mammalian ventricular system, with special reference to the characteristic reticular ramification

Distributional and morphological features, especially characteristics of the ramification of serotonin-containing supraependymal fibers (SEF), were studied in the ventricular systems of mammals (mouse, rat, guinea pig, rabbit, cat, dog, monkey) by means of a modified peroxidase antiperoxidase technique, using antiserotonin antiserum prepared in our laboratory. SEF were present in all ventricular systems, except on the third ventricle floor and in the choroid plexus. The density of SEF was higher in the smaller species. In the rat, light- and scanning electron microscopical SEF were almost completely abolished 1 week after intraventricular administration of 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine. Ramification of SEF was complicated; the SEF formed a true network with frequent anastomosing. In the ventricular system of rats rendered hydrocephalic by kaolin administration, the mode of axonal branching in the supraependymal plexus could best be analyzed by the scanning electron microscope because the meshes of the plexus were spread out.     

Optimum conditions for ursodeoxycholic acid production from lithocholic acid by Fusarium equiseti M41.

Ursodeoxycholic acid dissolves cholesterol gallstones in humans. In the present study optimum conditions for ursodeoxycholic acid production by Fusarium equiseti M41 were studied. Resting mycelia of F. equiseti M41 showed maximum conversion at 28 degrees C, pH 8.0, and dissolved oxygen tension of higher than 60% saturation. Monovalent cations, such as Na+, K+, and Rb+, stimulated the conversion rate more than twofold. In the presence of 0.5 M KCl, the initial uptake rate and equilibrium concentration of lithocholic acid (substrate) were enhanced by 5.7- and 1.7-fold, respectively. We confirmed that enzyme activity catalyzing 7 beta-hydroxylation of lithocholic acid was induced by substrate lithocholic acid. The activity in the mycelium was controlled by dissolved oxygen tension during cultivation: with a dissolved oxygen tension of 15% and over, the activity peak appeared at 25 h of cultivation, whereas the peak was delayed to 34 and 50 h with 5 and 0% dissolved oxygen tension, respectively. After reaching the maximum, the 7 beta-hydroxylation activity in the mycelium declined rapidly at pH 7.0, but the decline was retarded by increasing the pH to 8.0. Several combinations of operations, such as pH shift (from pH 7 to 8), addition of 0.5 M KCl, and dissolved oxygen control, were applied to the production of ursodeoxycholic acid in a jar fermentor, and a much larger amount of ursodeoxycholic acid (1.2 g/liter) was produced within 96 h of cultivation.     

Studies on the ontogenesis and the regulatory mechanisms of placental lactogen and insulin binding sites (receptor) in rat liver

The ontogenesis of specific binding of 125I-hPL and 125I-insulin was determined in rat liver cell membranes (10(5) X g pellets), and the regulatory mechanisms of these binding sites were also examined. There were striking differences in the mode of ontogenesis between binding sites of hPL and insulin in rats. HPL binding sites were very few in liver cell membranes from fetal and immature rats. They began to increase after puberty, and markedly increased in late pregnancy. On the other hand, insulin binding sites, which decreased in late pregnancy, were dominant in fetal liver and placenta. Consequently, the lipolytic and glycogenolytic activities of hPL in maternal liver were accentuated, whereas the effects of insulin on maternal liver were suppressed. In contrast, in fetal liver and placenta only the anabolic effects of insulin seemed conspicuous. According to the results of experiments on in vivo administration of estradiol-17 beta, progesterone, hydrocortisone or hPL to intact or hypox-rats, and the measurement of serum rat chorionic mammotropin (rCM), rPRL, estradiol-17 beta, and insulin during pregnancy in rats, the increase in hepatic hPL binding sites observed in late pregnancy might be, at least in part, due to rCM secreted from placenta, and the decrease in insulin binding sites due to the increase in serum insulin itself in rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Characterization of N-glycolyneuraminic acid-containing glycosphingolipids from a Marek's disease lymphoma-derived chicken cell line, MSB1, as tumor-associated heterophile Hanganutziu-Deicher antigens

Heterophile, Hanganutziu-Deicher (HD) antigen-active N-glycolylneuraminic acid-containing glycosphingolipids (GSLs) were detected as tumor-associated foreign antigens of a Marek's disease lymphoma-derived cell line, MSB1, by enzyme-immunoassay with chicken antibody against N-glycolylneuraminyl-lactosylceramide (anti-NeuGc-LacCer). At least three species of HD antigen-active GSLs were detected by two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography (TLC) combined with enzyme-immunoassay. The reactivities of the GSLs with anti-NeuGc-LacCer, their behaviors on two-dimensional TLC and the results of an endo-beta-galactosidase digestion study indicated that these three GSLs were NeuGc-LacCer (NeuGc alpha 2-2Gal beta 1-4Glc-Cer), NeuGc-nLcOse4Cer (NeuGc alpha 2-3Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc beta 1-3Gal beta 1-4Glc-Cer) and NeuGc-nLcOse6Cer (NeuGc alpha 2-3Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc beta 1-3Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc beta 1-3Gal beta 1-4Glc-Cer).     

Kinetics of formation of maltose and isomaltose through condensation of glucose by glucoamylase

A kinetic model was devised for the hydrolysis and synthesis of maltose and isomaltose by two glucoamylases from Rhizopus niveus and Aspergillus niger, and the validity of the model was verified experimentally at 313 K and pH 5.0. For both enzymes, the formations of maltose and isomaltose from glucose were parallel reversible reactions, and glucosyl transfer between maltose and isomaltose was not observed. The enzymes catalyzed rapid hydrolysis and synthesis of maltose. Isomaltose was hydrolyzed and synthesized more slowly, but the level produced from glucose was much higher than that of maltose. These hydrolysis and condensation reactions were expressed well by the model.     

Identification of a glycoprotein, gp21, of adult T cell leukemia virus by monoclonal antibody

A mouse hybridoma cell line producing monoclonal antibody, F10, was established from mice hyperimmunized with cells bearing adult T cell leukemia (ATL) virus (ATLV). F10 antibody reacted with an ATLV structural polypeptide ( gp21 ) with a m.w. of 21,000 that was glycosylated on cell surfaces. The gp21 was expressed on cell surfaces of all ATL-associated antigen (ATLA)-positive human cell lines but not on ATLA-negative cell lines nor peripheral blood leukocytes stimulated with mitogens. The gp21 was also detected with anti-ATLA-positive human serum, and the binding of F10 antibody to ATLA-positive cell surfaces was significantly blocked by pretreatment with anti-ATLA-positive human sera. Double immunofluorescence staining with F10 antibody and anti-ATLA-positive human serum caused co-capping on cell surfaces, which suggests that gp21 co-exists with other ATLV antigens expressed on cell surfaces. Immunoprecipitation studies also suggested that the gp21 is a minor component of the ATLV envelope.     

Cell lines from imaginal discs ofDrosophila melanogaster

Summary New cell lines, designated as ML-DmDl≈10, were established from dissociated imaginal discs ofDrosophila melanogaster. The culture medium was prepared by mixing in a 1:1 ratio Cross and Sang’s M3(BF) medium, supplemented with 10% heat inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS), with the supernatant of a primary embryonic cell culture made in the M3(BF) medium and supplementing this mixture with insulin. One cell line was established in the medium containing larval hemolymph instead of the primary culture supernatan, and another was established in fresh M3(BF) medium supplemented with insulin and FBS. In these mediums, imaginal disc cells first formed aggregates and cellular vesicles within a few weeks followed by the proliferation of thin-layered cells around them after about 1 mo. Ten cell lines have so far been established from two kinds of imaginal discs and disc mixtures. The ploidy of these cell lines was predominantly diploid. Population doubling time was about 50 to 70 h at 3 to 10 mo. after initiation of the culture. When the cell aggregates formed in vitro were implanted in metamorphosing larvae, they differentiated at high frequency into adult cuticular strutures in the early phase of the primary culture. This differentiation of aggregates was also observed, though at low frequency, in a culture maintained by dilution-transfer for 6 to 15 mo. in vitro.