Identification of the ATP + Mg-dependent and polycation-stimulated protein phosphatases in the germinal vesicle of the Xenopus oocyte.

Two protein phosphatase activities were characterized in the germinal vesicle of Xenopus laevis oocytes after manual dissection of the nucleus. One enzyme can be classified as an active form of the ATP + Mg-dependent (AMD) phosphatase, the other as a polycation-stimulated (PCS) phosphatase. The activity of the PCS phosphatase is localized exclusively in the soluble compartment of the nucleus (nucleoplasm). The catalytic subunit of the AMD phosphatase activity is associated either with the nuclear particulate fraction or with an inhibitory subunit in the nucleoplasm.     

Scavenging effect of extracts of green tea and natural antioxidants on active oxygen radicals

With the use of the spin trapping methods, the scavenging effects of the extracts of green tea and other natural foods are studied. In stimulated polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) system, water extract fraction 6 (F6) from green tea and green tea polyphenols (GTP) have the strongest scavenging effect on the active oxygen radicals, much stronger than vitamin C (Vc) and vitamin E (VE). Rosemary antioxidants (RA) and Curcumin (Cur) have weaker scavenging effects than Vc, but stronger than VE. In Fenton Reaction, Cur has the strongest scavenging effect (69%) on hydroxyl radicals. In irradiation, riboflavin system F6(74%) and GTP(72%) have very strong scavenging effects that are weaker than Vc, but much stronger than VE (23%). With the use of spin probe oxymetry, the oxygen consumption in respiratory burst of stimulated PMN were measured when the antioxidants existed in these systems. The results demonstrated that these antioxidants did not affect the respiratory burst of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes stimulated with PMA.     

Present situation of visceral leishmaniasis in China

Visceral leishmaniasis or kala azar is a disease that is distributed world-wide from countries around the Mediterranean Sea to Africa, the Middle East, Asia and South America (Fig. 1). Visceral leishmaniasis was highly prevalent in China but since 1958, after a nationwide campaign, it has been brought under control. Only sporadic cases occur in the hilly and newly reclaimed desert areas in NW China.     

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats

With the techniques of specific radioimmunoassay and gel filtration it was found that CGRP was distributed in various tissues of normotensive (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) with the highest concentration in the lumbar spinal cord (1197 +/- 94.8 pg/mg tissue) and the lowest in the auricle (15.0 +/- 2.1 pg/mg tissue). In comparison with WKY, CGRP concentration in the plasma was decreased and in the abdominal aorta and hypothalamus was increased in SHR. Gel filtration revealed only one major CGRP molecular form in the tissues. In addition, CGRP reduced the mean arterial pressure (MAP) in SHR in a dose-dependent manner. These data suggest that CGRP may play an important role in the pathogenesis of hypertension and its possible therapy.     

A simple and inexpensive method for cellulase and β-glucosidase production by Neurospora crassa

Summary Elevated levels of cellobiohydrolase, carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) and -glucosidase were produced by strain STA of Neurospora crassa, grown in solid-state fermentation on untreated wheat straw supplemented with simple mineral salts. Yields as high as 6.1 units of cellobiohydrolase, 969.2 units of CMCase and 169.4 units of -glucosidase per gram of straw were obtained at optimum growth and enzyme assay conditions.     

Modelling basic features of specificity in the binding of a dicationic steroid diamine to double-stranded oligonucleotides.

An investigation of the intrinsically preferred binding modes of a steroid diamine, dipyrandium, to the double-stranded hexanucleotides d(TATATA)2, d(ATATAT)2, and d(CGCGCG)2 is carried out by the energy minimization procedure JUMNA. Several alternative binding modes are compared: groove binding in which the conformation of the oligonucleotide remains close to that of B-DNA, intercalation between base-pairs and interaction with variously kinked structures in which base pairs of dinucleoside steps open towards the groove in which the binding occurs. The favored binding configuration occurs at the d(TpA) step of the AT kinked nucleotides in which the kink opens the base pairs towards the minor groove. Thus, for the d(T1A2T3A4T5A6)2 sequences the preferred complexation involves the kink at the T3A4 step facing the cyclohexane rings A, B, and C of the ligand. For the d(A1T2A3T4A5T6)2 sequence, the kink occurs at the T2A3 step facing the cationic pyrrolidine ring linked to ring A. The binding of dipyrandium to d(CGCGCG)2 is found to be considerably less favourable than for either of the two (AT) sequences.     

Electrostatic and steric control of electron self-exchange in cytochromes c, c551, and b5.

The ionic strength dependence of the electron self-exchange rate constants of cytochromes c, c551, and b5 has been analyzed in terms of a monopole-dipole formalism (van Leeuwen, J.W. 1983. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 743:408-421). The dipole moments of the reduced and oxidized forms of Ps. aeruginosa cytochrome c551 are 190 and 210 D, respectively (calculated from the crystal structure). The projections of these on the vector from the center of mass through the exposed heme edge are 120 and 150 D. For cytochrome b5, the dipole moments calculated from the crystal structure are 500 and 460 D for the reduced and oxidized protein; the projections of these dipole moments through the exposed heme edge are -330 and -280 D. A fit of the ionic strength dependence of the electron self-exchange rate constants gives -280 (reduced) and -250 (oxidized) D for the center of mass to heme edge vector. The self-exchange rate constants extrapolated to infinite ionic strength of cytochrome c, c551, and b5 are 5.1 x 10(5), 2 x 10(7), and 3.7 x 10(5) M-1 s-1, respectively. The extension of the monopole-dipole approach to other cytochrome-cytochrome electron transfer reactions is discussed. The control of electron transfer by the size and shape of the protein is investigated using a model which accounts for the distance of the heme from each of the surface atoms of the protein. These calculations indicate that the difference between the electrostatically corrected self-exchange rate constants of cytochromes c and c551 is due only in part to the different sizes and heme exposures of the two proteins.     

Differences in growth of transplantable ascites hepatoma among various lines of Donryu rat

A total of 48 Donryu rats from 8 colonies of 5 lines were inoculated intravenously with 10(7) cells of the ascites hepatoma strain AH 66. All the conventional rats of the lines D-1 and D-2 died between 9 and 15 days after inoculation with a good growth of implanted tumor cells. On the other hand, SPF rats of the lines A-1, B-1, C and E survived for 60 days showing complete rejection of the implanted tumor cells. A 50% of conventionalized ex-SPF rats of the lines A-2 and B-2, which had been once established as SPF colonies, and thereafter had been "re-conventionalized", rejected the tumor cells. The present observations indicate that the microbial conditions of the animal, e.g. whether the animal is SPF or not, might play an important role in the growth of the implanted ascites hepatoma.