Neuromyelitis optica: Passive transfer to rats by human immunoglobulin

Recurrent attacks of optic neuritis and myelitis are the hallmarks of both neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and multiple sclerosis (MS). NMO immunoglobulin G (NMO-IgG), which recognizes astrocytic aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channels, is a specific serum autoantibody that distinguishes NMO from MS. The pathogenic role of the anti-AQP4 antibody (AQP4-Ab, NMO-IgG) in NMO has been speculated based on several studies in vitro. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the pathogenicity of AQP4-Ab in vivo. We obtained IgG from patients who underwent therapeutic plasmapheresis, and developed an animal model by passive transfer of IgG to rats. The active lesions of the rats exhibited pathological characteristics strikingly similar to those of NMO, marked by astrocytic loss and perivascular deposition of immunoglobulin and complements. These findings provide the first evidence of the pathogenicity of AQP4-Ab in vivo and support the therapeutic efficacy of eliminating the antibodies by plasmapheresis.     

Mortality in the Children of Atomic Bomb Survivors and Controls

A continuing study of mortality rates among children born to survivors of the atomic bombings and a suitable group of controls has been updated; the average interval between birth and verification of death or survival is 17 years. The mortality experience is now based on 18,946 children liveborn to parents one or both of whom were proximally exposed, receiving jointly an estimated dose of 117 rem; 16,516 children born to distally exposed parents receiving essentially no radiation; and 17,263 children born to parents not in Hiroshima or Nagasaki at the time of the bombings. No clearly significant effect of parental exposure on child's survival can be demonstrated either by a contingency chi(2) type of analysis or regression analysis. On the basis of the regression data, the minimal gametic doubling dose of radiation of this type for mutations resulting in death during (on the average) the first 17 years of life among liveborn infants conceived 0-13 years after parental exposure is estimated at 46 rem for fathers and 125 rem for mothers. On the basis of experimental data, the gametic doubling dose for chronic, low-level radiation would be expected to be three to four times this value for males and as much as 1000 rem for females.     

Brief communication: Three‐dimensional motion analysis of hindlimb during brachiation in a white‐handed gibbon (Hylobates lar)

In brachiating gibbons, it is thought that there is little movement in the hindlimb joints and that lateral body movement is quite limited. These hypotheses are based on naked‐eye observations, and no quantitative motion analyses of the hindlimbs have been reported. This study quantitatively describes the three‐dimensional movements of the lower trunk and distal thigh during continuous‐contact brachiation in a white‐handed gibbon (Hylobates lar) to evaluate the roles of the trunk and hindlimb. The results revealed that the lower trunk moved both laterally and vertically. The lateral movement of the lower trunk resulted from the lateral inclination of the trunk by gravity. The vertical movement of the trunk was converted into forward velocity, indicating an exchange between potential and kinetic energy. We also observed flexion and extension of the hip, although the excursion was within a small range. In addition, the lateral movement of the hindlimb in thedirection opposite to that of trunk movement helped to reduce the lateral sway of the body. These results suggest that during continuous‐contact brachiation a gibbon uses hip flexion and extension motions to increase the kinetic energy in the swing. In addition, fine motions of the hip may restrict the lateral sway of the center of body mass. Am J Phys Anthropol 142:650–654, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Effects of food deprivation and high fat diet on immunoreactive dynorphin A(1–8) levels in brain regions of Zucker rats

The levels of immunoreactive dynorphin A(1–8) (ir-DYN8) were measured in discrete brain regions of lean Zucker rats subjected to food deprivation for 72 hr and to a high fat diet, and in fatty Zucker rats after food deprivation for 72 hr. Fatty rats showed higher concentrations of ir-DYN8 in the cortex and midbrain, when compared to lean rats fed a stock diet ad lib. Food deprivation increased ir-DYN8 levels in the cortex of lean rats and fatty rats and in the hippocampus of fatty rats, but decreased its content in the striatum of lean rats and in the midbrain of fatty rats. The high fat diet increased ir-DYN8 levels in the cortex and midbrain of lean rats. These results suggest that ir-DYN8 levels in extrahypothalamic structures of Zucker rats could be differentially modified under conditions of hereditary obesity and dietary manipulations.     

Changes in the Synthesis of RNA and Protein during Tracheary Element Differentiation in Single Cells Isolated from the Mesophyll of Zinnia elegans

Cycloheximide (CH) prevented tracheary element (TE) differentiationand cell division in a culture of single cells isolated fromthe mesophyll of Zinnia elegans at the concentrations whichinhibited incorporation of [¹⁴C]-leucine into protein. Whenthe cells were pulse-treated with this inhibitor for 12 h atvarious times of culture, TE formation was inhibited most stronglyby the treatments made between 24 and 60 h of culture. Incorporationof [¹⁴C]-leucine into protein showed a high level during thisperiod. The inhibitory effect of actinomycin D (Act-D) on TEdifferentiation was also marked when it was administered from24 to 60 h of culture when incorporation of [¹⁴C]-uridine intonucleic acid was at a high level. These results indicate thatRNA and protein syntheses are prerequisites for cytodifferentiationto TE and that the syntheses between 24 and 60 h of cultureare closely associated with cytodifferentiation. Studies of qualitative changes in proteins using two-dimensionalelectrophoresis revealed that approximately 400 polypeptidesextracted from [³⁵S]-methionine-labeled cells could be reproduciblyresolved and that most of them were synthesized in both differentiatingand non-differentiating cells. During TE differentiation, however,the synthesis of two polypeptides was shut off and two otherpolypeptides were newly synthesized between 48 and 60 h of culture,preceding the morphological changes. The relationship betweenTE differentiation and the synthesis of RNA and protein is discussed. (Received November 20, 1982; Accepted February 18, 1983)     

Identification of the Region Required for Monomerization of the Rolling Circle Plasmid pKYM

Plasmid pKYM, isolated from the Gram-negative bacterium Shigellasonnei, is a small multicopy plasmid which replicates by a rollingcircle mechanism. The formation of multimers has been observedin a derivative of pKYM which lost a part of the origin region,and the loss of the monomerization mechanism would have ledto these multimers. By analyzing the constructs of several mutants,we discovered that a DNA region required for monomerizationwas present upstream of the RepK binding site in the replicationorigin. As either of the T-rich sequence or the inverted repeatsequences which were seen in that region have been lost in themultimer-forming plasmids, these sequences may be necessaryfor monomerization.