Anti-idiotypic antibodies to HLA-DR4 and DR2

The aim of our study was to determine whether antibodies recognizing epitopes of HLA-DR antigens (idiotypic antibodies or Ab1) induce the production of anti-idiotypic antibodies (Ab2). We tested the capacity of the F(ab')2 fragment obtained from two sera, one with no anti-HLA antibodies (serum ES) and one depleted by absorption of anti-HLA lymphocytotoxins (serum FH), to block the anti-DR antibodies reacting with the HLA-DR antigens of the immunizing donor. The F(ab')2 fragment obtained from serum ES inhibited the anti-DR2 activity of an earlier post-delivery bleeding obtained from the same woman. The anti-idiotypic antibodies contained by this serum also inhibited the anti-DR2 activity of a reference anti-DR2 antiserum 8W907 and of an anti-MT1 antiserum 8W1231. Similarly, the F(ab')2 fragment obtained from serum FH, after absorption of her anti-DR4 antibody, inhibited the anti-DR4 activity of autologous and homologous antisera. These data suggest that sera of parous women contain anti-idiotypic antibodies directed against regulatory idiotypes of anti-DR antibodies.     

Cold-stage scanning electron microscope measurement of ice morphology in apple tissue as a function of freezing rate

A cold-stage SEM was used to document the morphology of ice in apple tissue and a sucrose solution frozen at rates ranging from 450 to 0.03 degrees K/min. Freezing rates of 3-mm-thick apple discs were measured with a differential thermocouple technique, which gave measurement of the growth velocity and the temperature gradient through the solidified specimen as well as the cooling rate during solidification. Cold-stage SEM micrographs were used to measure the dendritic spacing of the ice structures, and these data were found to correlate linearly with the square root of the cooling rate during solidification as would be predicted by a theoretical analysis of mass transfer in the formation of dendrites. Comparison of freeze-substituted and freeze-dried apple-tissue micrographs with those from a cold-stage SEM showed that the cold-stage SEM technique was the only one which correctly represented ice morphology in apple tissue.     

Antimicrobial Properties of Natural Phenols and Related Compounds: I. Obtusastyrene

Obtusastyrene (4-cinnamylphenol) displays effective antimicrobial activity in vitro against a variety of gram-positive bacteria, yeasts, and molds. The activity of obtusastyrene is not appreciably affected by pH, and its minimal inhibitory concentrations, 12 to 25 mug/ml for bacteria and 12 to 100 mug/ml for fungi, compare favorably with those of a number of synthetic, phenolic antimicrobial agents.     

Dark Repair of Ultraviolet-Irradiated Deoxyribonucleic Acid by Bacteriophage T4: Purification and Characterization of a Dimer-Specific Phage-Induced Endonuclease

The purification and properties of an ultraviolet (UV) repair endonuclease are described. The enzyme is induced by infection of cells of Escherichia coli with phage T4 and is missing from extracts of cells infected with the UV-sensitive and excision-defective mutant T4V(1). The enzyme attacks UV-irradiated deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) containing either hydroxymethylcytosine or cytosine, but does not affect native DNA. The specific substrate in UV-irradiated DNA appears to be pyrimidine dimer sites. The purified enzyme alone does not excise pyrimidine dimers from UV-irradiated DNA. However, dimer excision does occur in the presence of the purified endonuclease plus crude extract of cells infected with the mutant T4V(1).     

Pressurized freezing for retarding shrinkage after drying: a quantitative interpretation

Certain gases, when dissolved at high pressure in foods and biological materials, give a structure of gas bubbles inflating cells after freezing, depressurization, and thawing. This phenomenon has been found to reduce shrinkage after subsequent drying. The effect is interpreted quantitatively in terms of the needs for (a) a sufficient solubility of the gas in the water of the tissue at high pressure so that the Bunsen coefficient is high enough (at least 1.5 cm³/cm³ for maximum effect), and (b) a sufficiently low permeability, expressed as the product of atmospheric solubility and diffusivity in water (equal to or less that of air for maximum effect).     

Dihydrofolate reductase: low-resolution mass-spectrometric analysis of an elastase digest as a sequencing tool (Short Communication)

An elastase digest of a protein of unknown structure, dihydrofolate reductase, was studied by mass spectrometry. This soluble digest contained a large number of small peptides in different yields, within the ideal molecular-weight range (200-1200) for mixture-analysis mass spectrometry. Sequences of the major component peptides in the digest are reported.