A possible phagocytic role for folliculo-stellate cells of anterior pituitary following estrogen withdrawal from primed male rats

Summary Ultrastructural changes suggesting a phagocytic role for the nongranular folliculo-stellate cells of the anterior pituitary are investigated in estrogen-primed male rats after withdrawal of estrogen. Morphological changes in mammotropes following the removal of a subcutaneous estradiol-containing Silastic implant include the formation of intracellular lipid bodies. These lipid bodies appear to be associated with enhanced estrogen-dependent prolactin secretion in mammotropes. Seven and 24 h after estrogen withdrawal intracellular lipid within mammotropes seems to be released into the intercellular space. Seventy-two h after estrogen withdrawal, lipid droplets are almost entirely cleared from mammotropes while folliculo-stellate cells become packed with lipid globules. Folliculo-stellate cells also undergo dramatic hypertrophy 7 and 24 h after the removal of E2-containing implants. Extensive intercellular junctions including zonulae adhaerentes, desmosomes, and putative gap junctions are formed. Intercellular junctions delineate extravascular channels into which numerous microvilli project. Folliculo-stellate cells appear capable of accumulating many lipid droplets, presumably related to mammotrope metabolism. What appear to be large secondary lysosomes as well as the lipid droplets are observed within folliculostellate cells; lipid, therefore, may be degraded through a lysosomal pathway in folliculo-stellate cells.     

Synthesis of RNA by Rhodomicrobium vannielii swarmer cells

Abstract Protein synthesis in Rhodomicrobium vannielii swarmer cells, incubated anaerobically in the dark, is dependent upon a rifampicin-sensitive step, indicating a dependence upon de novo RNA synthesis. In addition, toluene treatment has shown that the motile, non-differentiating swarmer cells have the capacity to initiate and sustain RNA synthesis. The major form of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase responsible for this RNA synthesis has been identified.     

Number of somatic and germ cells during early stages of gonadal development in frog larvae treated with zinc sulphate

Summary ZnSO₄ treatment of early frog tadpoles resulted, initially, in a mitotic stimulation of primordial germ cells. In later larval stages, ZnSO₄ was responsible for the atresy of gonads in which germ cell and medullary cell numbers sharply decreased. At the same time, very few germ cells entered the meiotic prophase, while the degeneration of some of them was observed. Our results are discussed in connection with previous findings about the influence of Zn on cellular proliferation.     

Statistical treatment of VAM infection data

Summary The amount of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) infection, when expressed as length of infected roots, is commonly quite variable among replicate pots within an experimental treatment. In this paper we show that frequency distributions of VAM infection parameters are often non-normal in form and may follow the negative binomial, a distribution commonly associated with aggregated organisms in nature. The lack of normality means that statistical procedures should either be non-parametric or should include data transformations.     

The action of lipase on chloroplast membranes: II. Polypeptide patterns of bean galactolipase- and phospholipase A2-treated thylakoid membranes

Thylakoid membranes obtained from bean chloroplasts treated with bean galactolipase or phospholipase A₂ (from Crotalus terr. terr.) showed marked changes in their polypeptide patterns when separated on SDS-PAGE. The obtained results have been discussed with regard to the relationship between chloroplast lipids and polypeptides originating from chlorophyll-protein complexes of bean thylakoids. A coexistence between galactolipids and the peripheral antennae in PS I complex and LHCP³ as well as a conspicuous role of phospholipids in PSI and PSII centre chlorophyll-protein complexes has to be underlined.Abbreviations CP1 chlorophyll a-protein complex of PSI - CPa chlorophyll a-protein complex of PSII - D₁₀ digitonin subchloroplast particles enriched in PSII - D₁₄₄ digitonin subchloroplast particles enriched in PSI - DCMU 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea - LHCP^1–3 light harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein complexes - PAGE polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis - PSI photosystem I - PSII photosystem II - SDS sodium dodecyl sulphate - TCA trichloroacetic acid - Tricine N-Tris-(hydroxymethyl)-methylglycine - Tris Tris-(hydroxymethyl)-aminomethan     

Neurosecretion in the external and internal zone of the median eminence of the cat and dog

Summary The immunoglobulin-enzyme bridge technique, in association with rabbit antiporcine neurophysin-II has been applied to the median eminence of the dog and cat in order to study the distribution of neurophysin-like antigens throughout this area of the brain and correlate the findings with the corresponding distribution of neurosecretory material (NSM) as revealed by the crotonaldehyde fuchsin stain.Neurophysin and NSM were both present in the hypothalamo-supraoptico-neurohypophysial system—the pathway taken by oxytocin, vasopressin and neurophysin from the hypothalamus to the posterior pituitary lobe.Whereas the tuberoinfundibular tract of the median eminence was almost devoid of NSM, the presence of neurophysin-like material was clearly evident using immunoperoxidase histochemistry. The significance of a protein in the external median eminence possessing determinants cross-reactive against anti-neurophysin serum is discussed.This work was financed by a grant from the Medical Research Council of New Zealand.     

The use and utility of EMG biofeedback with chronic schizophrenic patients

This study examined the efficacy of muscle relaxation training via electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback from the frontalis and forearm extensor muscles of schizophrenic inpatients. Thirty chronically hospitalized patients were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: EMG biofeedback from the forearm extensor and frontalis muscles, progressive relaxation, and a control group. Treatment consisted of one session of orientation and baseline, and six sessions of training. The results indicated that the schizophrenic patients receiving EMG training had significantly lower EMG recordings than the progressive relaxation group, which, in turn, was significantly lower than the control group. Analyses of covariance on the Tension-Anxiety scale from the Profile of Mood States revealed no significant effects, while finger-tapping rates were significantly improved only for the arm receiving feedback training in the EMG group. On the Nurses Observation Scale for Inpatient Evaluation the biofeedback group significantly improved on the Social Competence and Social Interest factors.We would like to express our appreciation for the contributions the following people made to this project: Drs. Barry Smith, Robert Steele, Agnes Hartfield, Jeffrey Barth, Althea Wagman, and the late Harold Weiner; Earl Downs and the participating staff at Springfield State Hospital Center; and Robert Kline and Michael Kelley, who performed the data analyses. This research was supported in part by a grant from the Computer Science Center at the University of Maryland.     

Decrease in the Function of the γ-Aminobutyric Acid-Coupled Chloride Channel Produced by the Repeated Administration of Pentylenetetrazol to Rats

The acute administration of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ; 25-75 mg/kg i.p.) failed to modify the specific binding of t-[35S]butylbicyclophosphorothionate ([35S]TBPS) to membrane preparations from the cerebral cortex of the rat. In contrast, the repeated administration of PTZ (30 mg/kg i.p., three times a week for 12 weeks) reduced by 26% the density of [35S]TBPS binding sites without modifying the dissociation constant. This effect was observed 3 days after the last PTZ administration. A parallel reduction of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-stimulated 36Cl- uptake was measured in the cerebral cortex of PTZ-treated rats 3 days after the last injection. The repeated administration of PTZ produced sensitization to the drug, or chemical kindling. In fact, no convulsions were observed in the first week of treatment, but all the animals became sensitized to PTZ by the 12th week. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that chronic treatment with PTZ at a subconvulsant dose causes a decrease in GABA-coupled chloride channel activity that may be related to the chemical kindling produced by this compound.     

Heat treatment of ripening apples: Differential effects on physiology and biochemistry

Apples ( Malus domestica Borkh.) were heated for 4 days at 38°C immediately after harvest and then placed at 20°C for 7–10 days. Protein synthesis, ethylene production and fruit softening were reversibly inhibited by the heat treatment. Fruit respiration, membrane permeability and chlorophyll degradation in the fruit peel were enhanced during the treatment. The heat-treated apples ripened normally but more slowly than untreated apple We hypothesize that heat treatment differentially affects processes which normally increase simultaneously during fruit ripening, by inhibiting those processes which require tie novo protein synthesis and enhancing those that do not.     

小剂量干扰素与胸腺肽联合对慢性乙型肝炎抗病毒效应的追踪观察

本文报道小剂量干扰素与胸腺肽联合对慢性乙肝20例抗病毒效应的追踪观察结果,并与同期同批同剂量单纯干扰素治疗13例慢性乙肝作对照,追踪时间均为治后半年—2年,从HBeAg、HBcAg、DNAP、HBV DNA阴转率来看,治疗组分别为58.8％、60％、60％及66.6％、对照组分别为50％、50％、100％及50％。再从HBV四项复制指标改变来看,则治疗组4例全阴转,7例仅一项阳性,总有效率达61.1％(11/18),而对照组仅为20％(2/10),P<0.01,认为干扰素与胸腺肽联合治疗优于对照组,并扼要讨论增强干扰素抗病毒效应的各种措施,认为干扰素与胸腺肽联合,不论从前已报道近期疗效和本文远期追踪来看均较安全而有效,二者合用起到增强抗病毒效应的作用,值得进一步探索。