Enhancement of the febrile responses of rats to endogenous pyrogen occurs within the OVLT region

The febrile responses of male Sprague-Dawley rats to a semi-purified endogenous pyrogen (EP) derived from human monocytes are markedly enhanced 3 days after the animals are intravenously injected with a variety of immunoadjuvants. The present study was designed to investigate the site within the body at which these substances act to produce this febrile-enhancing phenomenon. Stainless steel microinjection cannula guide tubes were implanted within the region of the organum vasculosum lamina terminalis (OVLT) of the rats and control febrile dose-response curves to EP were established. Minute quantities of the immunoadjuvants zymosan, lipopolysaccharide endotoxin, and the synthetic adjuvant peptide, muramyl dipeptide, were microinjected into the OVLT region and 3 days later, the febrile responses of the animals were retested. In each case the febrile response elicited by a standard dose of EP was more than doubled, the slope of the fever dose-response curve was tripled, and the dose threshold was lowered by a factor of four to five. These responses are identical with those produced when much larger amounts of these immunoadjuvants are injected intravenously, and, thus, we conclude that the site of action of these substances in enhancing fever in response to EP resides in or near the OVLT region. It is proposed that EP stimulates a type of reticuloendothelial cell residing within the OVLT to release prostaglandin E, which in turn crosses the blood-brain barrier to effect the changes in the thermoregulatory neurons of the preoptic anterior hypothalamic area that result in fever.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic separation of bile acid pyrenacyl esters with cyclodextrin-containing mobile phase

The high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of bile acid pyrenacyl esters with cyclodextrin-containing mobile phase is presented. Compared with conventional methods, inclusion chromatography gives much more satisfactory separation of derivatized bile acids in a short time. The application of this method to the separation of glycine-conjugated bile acids in human bile is also described.     

Praziquantel-induced secretion of proteolytic enzyme from Schistosoma mansoni cercariae

The effect of praziquantel (PZQ) on secretion of proteolytic enzyme by Schistosoma mansoni cercariae was examined using an azocoll assay. The cercariae secreted proteolytic enzyme in various concentrations of PZQ (0.1, 1, and 10 micrograms/ml), but secretion of enzyme was highest at the lowest concentration. PZQ-induced secretion of proteolytic enzyme was partially inhibited by treatment with verapamil and ethylene glycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)N,N,N',N'-tetra-acetic acid but not by calmodulin antagonist W-7 and protein kinase C inhibitor H-7.     

Pneumocystis carinii infection in corticosteroid-treated cats

Corticosteroids were administered to produce Pneumocystis carinii infection in cats. Six of 10 cats, injected intramuscularly for 97-141 days with 2 mg/cat twice weekly of betamethasone sodium phosphate, developed a light infection with P. carinii. Six of 7 cats, injected intramuscularly for 11-168 days with 10-25 mg/cat weekly of prednisolone acetate, also developed a light infection with P. carinii. There was no significant difference in the infection rate between the sexes and ages of the cats. Using Giemsa staining and Gomori's methenamine silver nitrate stain, P. carinii organisms were indistinguishable morphologically from human and rat P. carinii. The cysts and trophozoites were usually present singly or in small groups, and they always were adhering to the periphery of alveoli. The inflammatory changes were inconspicuous except for the fact that alveolar macrophages often were seen. Corticosteroid-treated cats should be useful in the study of experimental P. carinii infection. This is the first reported case of experimentally induced P. carinii infection in cats.     

Detection of human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) provirus in an infected cell line and in peripheral mononuclear cells of blood donors by the nested double polymerase chain reaction method: comparison with HTLV-I antibody tests.

Human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) provirus DNA from the cultured cell line HUT 102 and from peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMC) of anti-HTLV-I antibody-positive Japanese blood donors was detected by the nested double polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. This procedure consists of a first amplification and a second amplification with the products of the first amplification and primers interior to the first primers. Using this method, we demonstrated that it is possible to detect single-template DNA. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the nested double PCR products, with our primers, revealed three bands with excess amounts of template DNA, two bands with moderate amounts, and a single band with limited amounts. The amount of provirus in PBMC was roughly estimated from the results of the nested double PCR. Particle agglutination (PA) assays and indirect immunofluorescence testing (IF) with mixed MT-2 cells and Molt-4 cells as targets to detect anti-HTLV-I antibody were performed, and the results were compared with those of the nested double PCR of the pX region. None of the 101 PA-negative samples were positive in either the IF or PCR test. Of the 155 samples that were antibody positive by the PA assay, 57 were positive by both PCR and IF. Furthermore, the results of the IF and PCR tests coincided completely. It was therefore concluded that the IF method is most appropriate for confirmation of the PA assay currently used in most diagnostic laboratories and blood centers.     

N-Acylation of stimulatory amino acids changes chiral recognition of the fleshfly labellar sugar receptor

Summary N-Acylation changed nonstimulatory Dvaline into a clear stimulant of the sugar receptor of the fleshfly,Boettcherisca peregrina. Of theN-acyl-D-valines, the most stimulatory wasN-acetyl-D-valine. Similar changes into stimulants were also observed in other aliphatic amino acids such as leucine and methionine. Dose-response curves ofN-acetyl-D-valine suggested an increase of binding affinity, compared with that ofN-acetyl-L-valine. By treatment experiment with pronase 10 mg/ml, stimulatoryN-acetyl-D-amino acids were suggested to react with the specific alkyl site (R site), which was presumed to discriminate between L- and D-forms of the amino acids through steric hindrance between its own spatial barrier and D-amino acids (Shimada and Isono 1978; Shimada and Tanimura 1981).This change of chiral recognition cannot be explained by simple steric hindrance at the R site. It means, instead, that a hydrophobic subsite rather than a spatial barrier must be postulated.     

Role of growth hormone in modulating the constitutive and phenobarbital-induced levels of two P-450(6)beta (testosterone 6 beta-hydroxylase) mRNAs in rat livers

The role of growth hormone in the expression of two forms of hepatic cytochrome P-450(P-450), P-450(6)beta-1(6 beta-3), and P-450(6)beta-4, was investigated using RNA blots. The level of P-450(6)beta-1(6 beta-3) mRNA was twenty times higher than that of P-450(6) beta-4 mRNAs in untreated male rat livers. The levels of P-450(6)beta-1(6 beta-3) and P-450(6)beta-4 mRNAs were increased two fold and three fold, respectively, by hypophysectomy of adult male rats. By intermittent injection of human growth hormone (hGH) into hypophysectomized male rats, both mRNAs were decreased to the level of normal rats, and almost disappeared after continuous infusion of hGH. In female rats, these two mRNAs were not detected, but were increased remarkably by hypophysectomy. The increases in these mRNAs were almost abolished after continuous infusion of hGH in hypophysectomized female rats. The effect of hGH on PB-mediated induction of P-450(6)beta-1(6 beta-3) and P-450(6)beta-4 mRNAs was also examined. The PB-mediated increases in P-450(6)beta-1(6 beta-3) and P-450(6)beta-4 mRNAs were higher in hypophysectomized male rats (2.5-fold and 10.9-fold, respectively) than in normal male rats (1.5-fold and 5.2-fold, respectively). Thus, the levels of P-450(6)beta-1(6-beta-3) and P-450(6)beta-4 mRNAs were 4.1-fold and 7.3-fold, respectively, higher in PB-induced hypophysectomized rats than in normal male rats. Concerning the postnatal developmental profiles, P-450(6)beta-1(6 beta-3) mRNA was detectable at neonate and reached a maximal level at around 17 days of age.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate induces DNA cleavage at linker regions in mouse thymocytes

A phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA), induced the cleavage of nuclear DNA at linker regions in cultured mouse thymocytes. Similar DNA fragmentation was induced by 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-glycerol, a synthetic diacylglycerol, but not by 4 alpha-phorbol-12,13 didecanoate. The DNA fragmentation was inhibited by 1-(5-isoquinoline-sulfonyl)-2-methyl-piperazine dihydrochloride, an inhibitor of protein kinase C, as well as actinomycin D and cycloheximide. It appears that TPA induces DNA cleavage through activation of protein kinase C and synthesis of yet unidentified protein(s). That the inhibition of DNA fragmentation was accompanied by a reduction in cell lysis suggests a causal relationship between DNA fragmentation and cell death.     

N-terminal half of a mitochondrial presequence peptide takes a helical conformation when bound to dodecylphosphocholine micelles: a proton nuclear magnetic resonance study

Two-dimensional proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of a synthetic peptide (p25) corresponding to the amino-terminus of the yeast mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit IV precursor protein have been analyzed. Sequence-specific resonance assignments of the peptide have been made in the presence of micelles of a phospholipid analog, perdeuterated dodecylphosphocholine (DPC), with the aid of such techniques as HOHAHA, DQF-COSY, and NOESY. The interresidue nuclear Overhauser effects (NOEs) indicate that the N-terminal half of p25 (S3-F11) takes a helical structure while the C-terminal half does not take a regular secondary structure. Addition of DPC to the solution of p25 induced chemical shift changes only of the resonances from the residues in the N-terminal half, suggesting that the N-terminal half of p25 is directly involved in binding to DPC. The induced helical structure in the N-terminal half at a lipid-water interface may be important in the ability of this presequence to direct a "passenger" protein into mitochondria.     

An ATP-driven Cl- pump in the brain

EDTA-treated microsomes prepared from rat brain mainly consisted of sealed membrane vesicles 200-500 nm in diameter and were rich in both Cl- -ATPase and Na+,K+-ATPase activities. Such Cl- -ATPase-rich membrane vesicles accumulated Cl- in an ATP-dependent and osmotically reactive manner in the presence of 1 nM ouabain. The Cl- uptake was maximally stimulated by ATP with a Km value of 1.5 mM; GTP, ITP, and UTP partially stimulated Cl- uptake, but CTP, beta, gamma-methylene ATP, ADP, and AMP did not. The ATP-dependent Cl- uptake was accelerated by an increase in the medium Cl- concentration with a Km value of 7.4 mM. Such stimulation of Cl- uptake by ATP was dependent on the pH of the medium, with an optimal pH of 7.4, and also on the temperature of the medium, with an optimal range of 37-42 degrees C. Ethacrynic acid dose dependently inhibited the ATP-dependent Cl- uptake with a concentration for half-maximal inhibition at 57 microM. N-ethylmaleimide (0.1 mM) completely inhibited and sodium vanadate (1 mM) partially inhibited the ATP-dependent Cl- uptake. The membrane vesicles did not accumulate H+ in the Cl- uptake assay medium. The ATP-dependent Cl- uptake profile agreed with that of Cl- -ATPase activity reported previously (Inagaki, C., Tanaka, T., Hara, M., and Ishiko, J. (1985) Biochem. Pharmacol. 34, 1705-1712), and this strongly supports the idea that Cl- -ATPase in the brain actively transports Cl-.