Expression of cloned aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase in Xenopus laevis oocytes.

Sense mRNA coding for bovine adrenal medulla aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) was expressed following microinjection into Xenopus laevis oocytes. The expressed enzyme activity was stereoselective for L-5-hydroxytryptophan and L-DOPA and blocked by NSD-1015 an inhibitor of AADC. Heating the expressed enzyme at 55 degrees C resulted in a parallel loss of activity towards both substrates. Our findings are consistent with the prevailing notion that a single enzyme is able to decarboxylate both substrates in vivo.     

Ataxia-telangiectasia: Linkage analysis in highly inbred Arab and Druze families and differentiation from an ataxia-microcephaly-cataract syndrome

Summary Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) is a progressive autosomal recessive disease featuring neurodegeneration, immunodeficiency, chromosomal instability, radiation sensitivity and a highly increased proneness to cancer. A-T is ethnically widespread and genetically heterogeneous, as indicated by the existence of four complementation groups in this disease. Several A-T-like genetic diseases share various clinical and cellular characteristics with A-T. By using linkage analysis to study North American and Turkish A-O families, the ATA (A-T, complementation group A) gene has been mapped to chromosome 11q23. A number of Israeli Arab A-T patients coming from large, highly inbred families were assigned to group A In one of these families, an additional autosomal recessive disease was identified, characterized by ataxia, hypotonia, microcephaly and bilateral congenital cataracts. In two patients with this syndrome, normal levels of serum immunoglobulins and alpha-fetoprotein, chromosomal stability in peripheral blood lymphocytes and skin fibroblasts, and normal cellular response to treatments with X-rays and the radiomimetic drug neocarzinostatin indicated that this disease does not share, with A-T, any additional features other than ataxia. These tests also showed that another patient in this family, who is also mentally retarded, is affected with both disorders. This conclusion was further supported by linkage analysis with 11q23 markers. Lod scores between A-O and these markers, cumulated over three large Arab families, were significant and confirmed the localization of the ATA gene to aq23. However, another Druze family unassigned to a specific complementation group, showed several recombinants between A-T and the same markers, leaving the localization of the A-T gene in this family open.     

Pollinosis in trentino (Northern Italy). Aerobiological and clinical research

Summary A study to evaluate and define the atmospheric pollen concentration in Trentino was carried out through the aerobiologic sampling in three localities chosen according to their different climatic conditions.1375 patients with pollinosis living in Trentino were studied retrospectively over the period ranging from 1986 to 1988 and selected according to the area they came from.Results have proved that the most allergenic pollen types are the following: Poaceae, Urticaceae (Parietaria), Compositae (Artemisia) and the tree pollen of Betulaceae and Corylaceae (Alnus, Betula, Corylus), and that pollinosis caused by such pollen, types has different features and frequencies according to the different localities.As far as symptoms are concerned, our data shows that rhinoconjuntivitis is more frequent in those patients who are allergic toParietaria while asthma results being more frequent in patients who are allergic to tree pollen.     

Complete reversion of the abo phenotype in D. melanogaster occurs only when the blood transposon is lost from region 32E.

Summary The abnormal oocyte phenotype is characterized by instability, as shown by the loss and reappearance of the abo maternal effect under specific genetic conditions. Our previous finding that a correlation exists between the abo phenotype and the presence of a blood transposon in region 32E, led us to perform an extensive genetic and molecular analysis of the most significant aspects of the abo phenotype in different genetic backgrounds. The results of these experiments can be summarized as follows: Complete reversion occurs only when the blood transposon is lost, thus definitively demonstrating that the insertion of the blood transposon in region 32E is the molecular event that causes the pleiotropic abo phenotype. Partial reversion can also occur without loss of the transposon, indicating that different molecular pathways may be involved in the loss of the abo phenotype. Reappearance of the full abo phenotype can occur only in heterozygous lines constructed from partially revertant abo homozygous lines that have not lost the blood transposon.     

1H NMR investigation of reduced copper-cobalt superoxide dismutase

Human copper-cobalt superoxide dismutase in the reduced form has been investigated through ¹H NMR techniques. The aim is to monitor the structural properties of this derivative and to compare them with those of reduced and oxidized native superoxide dismutases. The observed signals of the cobalt ligands have been assigned as well as the signals of the histidines bound to copper(I). The latter signals experience little pseudocontact shifts which allow a rough orientation of the magnetic susceptibility tensor in the molecular frame. The connectivities indicate that, although the histidine bridge is broken in the reduced form, the interproton distances between ligands of both ions are essentially the same.Abbreviations WEFT water eliminated Fourier transform - NOE nuclear Overhauser effect - NOESY NOE spectroscopy - COSY correlation spectroscopy - TOCSY total correlation spectroscopy - SOD superoxide dismutase - E₂Co(II)SOD SOD with empty copper site (E=empty) and with cobalt(II) in the Zinc(II) site Offprint requests to: I. Bertini     

Recombinant interleukin-2 and lymphokine-activated killer cells in renal cancer patients: II. characterization of cells cultured ex vivo and their contribution to the in vivo immunomodulation

Summary Burkitt lymphoma (BL) lines can be grouped according to phenotypic characteristics. Group I cells exhibit the phenotype of resting B cells and grow as single cells. Such lines can be Epstein-Barr-virus(EBV)-negative or -positive. Group II and group III cells are always EBV-positive, they express B cell activation markers, grow in aggregates and resemble in varying degrees lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL). We studied three groups of BL lines for their capacity to interact with allogeneic lymphocytes. The results showed that as long as the lines have the group I phenotype, they do not stimulate allogeneic T lymphocytes irrespective whether they carry the EBV genome. The group II and III cells are stimulatory. Generally there was no correlation between sensitivity to lymphocyte-mediated lysis and the phenotype of the lines. In one set of lines, the group I cells had higher sensitivity to both natural killer and lymphokine-activated killer effectors compared to the group II or III lines. However, such correlation could not be seen with the other two sets of lines. Among the phenotypic features investigated, expression of the adhesion molecules LFA-1 and LFA-3 correlated with the tendency for cell aggregation.     

Preservation of capsular material of streptococcal cells by specific lectins determined by immunoelectron microscopy

Summary We describe the use of lectins as specific stabilizing agents for the polysaccharide capsular components of two Gram-positive bacteria,Streptococcus agalactiae andStreptococcus bovis. Treatment of bacterial suspensions with wheatgerm agglutinin and concanavalin A allowed better morphological preservation as well as immunoelectron microscopic localization of a capsular component (lipoteichoic acid) by employing specific antibodies and the protein A-gold technique. Data obtained indicate that lectins are useful agents in preserving highly water-soluble capsular components during the electron microscopy procedures for both unembedded and embedded samples.     

Effects of progesterone and estradiol-17 beta on uterine secretion of prostaglandin F2 alpha in response to oxytocin in ovariectomized ewes

Twenty ovariectomized ewes were used in an experiment designed to examine the interaction of progesterone, estradiol, and oxytocin in the regulation of uterine secretion of prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha). All ewes underwent a steroid pretreatment that mimicked the changes in progesterone and estradiol which occur during the six days immediately prior to estrus. After pretreatment, ewes were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups: 1) control (n = 4); 2) estradiol-17 beta (n = 6); 3) progesterone (n = 4); and 4) progesterone and estradiol-17 beta (n = 6). Progesterone was injected twice daily for 15 days. The dose of progesterone varied with day postestrus in a manner designed to simulate endogenous luteal secretion of progesterone. Estradiol-17 beta was administered in s.c. Silastic implants. The implants maintained circulating concentrations of estradiol at 3 pg/ml. On Days 5, 10, and 15 of treatment, ewes were injected with oxytocin (10 IU in 1.0 ml saline, i.v.). Jugular venous blood samples were collected beginning one-half hour prior to and continuing for 2 hours post-oxytocin injection for quantification of 13,14-dihydro-15-keto-prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGFM). No changes in concentration of PGFM following injection of oxytocin were observed on Day 5 or 10 in any treatment group. Concentrations of PGFM increased following injection of oxytocin on Day 15 only in groups receiving progesterone. Both the area under the PGFM response curve (p = 0.08) and peak response (p = 0.06) were greater in ewes treated with progesterone and estradiol-17 beta than in those receiving progesterone alone.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Floristic groups and plant communities of southeastern Santa Fe,Argentina

This paper is a survey of the vegetation of the southeastern departments in the Province of Santa Fe (Argentina). The vegetation was analyzed following Braun-Blanquet's approach modified by Mueller-Dombois & Ellenberg (1974). The most relevant species of the region were placed in 25 groups according to their requirements or general behaviour. Most of the communities are herbaceous, and apart from the woody and some other miscellaneous ones they were grouped into three ecologically and floristically defined sets. The first set, the Stipa grasslands and related communities, which are characterized by the more or less abundant presence of Stipa hyalina, Stipa neesiana and Stipa papposa, comprises five different communities. The second, the halophilous communities, comprises five communities, the two Spartina ssp. grasslands, the halophilous prairies of Distichlis spicata, the short sedge Scirpus americanus communities and the ‘pela-dales’. The third, the hygrophilous communities, comprises nine communities which are not so well defined as the ones in the other sets. Besides, two further communities have been included, the Paspalum quadrifarium and the Melica macra tall grasslands.     

In vitro modification of Candida albicans invasiveness

Candida albicans produces germ-tubes (GT) when it is incubated in animal or human serum. This dimorphism is responsible for its invasive ability.The purpose of the present paper is (1) to evaluate the ability of rat peritoneal macrophages to inhibit GT production of ingested Candida albicans, obtained from immunized rats and then activated in vitro with Candida-induced lymphokines; (2) to determinate any possible alteration of phagocytic and candidacidal activities.The phagocytes were obtained from rats immunized with viable C. albicans. Some of them were exposed to Candida-induced lymphokines in order to activate the macrophages in vitro. The monolayers of activated, immune and normal macrophages were infected with a C. albicans suspension during 4 hr.Activated macrophages presented not only the highest phagocytic and candidacidal activities but a noticeable inhibition of GT formation and incremented candidacidal activity.