Cardiodynamic response to psychological and cold pressor stress: Further evidence for stimulus response specificity and directional fractionation

In the present study 36 police officers were exposed to a psychological stressor (IQ quiz) and to cold pressor stress while several cardiovascular variables were monitored. Impedance cardiography was used to provide measures of heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, myocardial contractility, and total peripheral resistance. In addition, measures of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and peripheral skin temperature were obtained. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that significant increases in diastolic and systolic blood pressure during the cold pressor test were mediated by large increases in total peripheral resistance, whereas blood pressure elevation during the IQ quiz were accompanied by significant increases in heart rate and, to a lesser extent, cardiac output. Peripheral skin temperature decreased in response to each stressor. Additional analysis indicated a degree of stimulus specificity for several variables. For example, diastolic blood pressure showed greater increases to cold pressor than quiz, whereas systolic blood pressure increased more with the psychological than the physical stressor. Directional fractionation occurred for both myocardial contractility and cardiac output.     

The sheep antibody response to repeated infection with Lucilia cuprina.

, , and 1992. The sheep antibody response to repeated infection with Lucilia cuprina. International Journal for Parasitology 22: 1169–1174. The specific serum antibody responses of sheep exposed to 10 consecutive infections of L. cuprina have been analysed by enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay and immunoblotting using monoclonal antibodies specific for sheep immunoglobulin isotypes. Recognition of a number of larval excretory-secretory products by IgM antibodies appeared to be non-specific. IgG₁ was the major antibody class stimulated by the infection protocol and marked increases in antibody to specific excretory-secretory antigens were observed. Three molecules of 35, 30 and 25 kDa were particularly recognized although the extent of recognition of these molecules varied considerably between individual sheep serum. A pooled serum composed of sera collected after five to seven infections significantly inhibited larval growth in in vitro cultures when compared to a sera pool consisting of sera collected both prior to infection and after infections 1 and 2. The degree of inhibition was greater when serum with high specific antibody titre was used.     

Pharmacological Characterization and Autoradiographic Localization of Histamine H2 Receptors in Human Brain Identified with [125I]Iodoaminopotentidine

125I-Aminopotentidine (125I-APT), a reversible probe of high specific radioactivity and high affinity and selectivity for the H2 receptor, was used to characterize and localize this histamine receptor subtype in human brain samples obtained at autopsy. On membranes of human caudate nucleus, specific 125I-APT binding at equilibrium revealed a single component, with a dissociation constant of 0.3 nM and maximal capacity of about 100 fmol/mg of protein. At 0.2 nM, 125I-APT specific binding, as defined with tiotidine, an H2-receptor antagonist chemically unrelated to iodoaminopotentidine, represented 40-50% of the total. Specific 125I-APT binding was inhibited by a series of typical H2-receptor antagonists that displayed apparent dissociation constants closely similar to corresponding values at the reference biological system, i.e., guinea pig atrium. This indicates that the pharmacology of the H2 receptor is the same in the human brain as on this reference system. However, histamine was about 10-fold more potent in inhibiting 125I-APT binding to membranes of human brain than of guinea pig brain. 125I-APT binding was also inhibited by amitriptyline and mianserin, two antidepressant drugs, in micromolar concentrations corresponding to effective plasma concentrations of treated patients. The distribution of H2 receptors was established autoradiographically with 125I-APT on a series of coronal sections of human brain after assessing the pharmacological specificity of the labeling. The highest density of 125I-APT sites was found in the basal ganglia, various parts of the limbic system, e.g., hippocampus or amygdaloid complex, and the cerebral cortex. H2 receptors displayed a laminar distribution in cerebral cortex and hippocampal formation. A low density of sites was found in cerebellum as well as in hypothalamus, the brain area where all the perikarya and the largest number of axons of histaminergic neurons are found. The widespread distribution of H2 receptors in the human brain is consistent with the alleged modulatory role of histamine mediated by this subtype of receptor.     

Stress response induced by DNA damage leads to specific, delayed and untargeted mutations

Summary Cells of the mouse T-lymphoma line GRSL13 were treated with 8-methoxy-psoralen plus longwave ultraviolet light (PUVA) under conditions where the biological effects are mainly due to non-persistent DNA crosslinks (PUVA-CL treatment). Fluctuation analysis showed that PUVA-CL treatment resulted in an enhancement of the mutation rate in the progeny of treated cells, which persisted until the eleventh generation after treatment. Since only 5 cross-links are available to account for 52 mutational events observed in the coding region, about 90% of the induced mutational events must have been untargeted. This was confirmed by molecular analysis of these mutations, which showed that 53% of the point mutations arose at sites which are not a target for psoralens. This supports the hypothesis that stress responses may give rise to untargeted mutagenesis. Further support for this hypothesis is provided by the observation that 8-methoxy-psoralen (8-MOP) or UVA alone (both of which are known to induce many pleiotropic effects) each acted as indirect mutagen by enhancing the mutation rate 2–4 fold in the progeny of treated cells.     

Characterization of species-specific repeated DNA sequences from B. nigra

Summary The construction and characterization of two genome-specific recombinant DNA clones from B. nigra are described. Southern analysis showed that the two clones belong to a dispersed repeat family. They differ from each other in their length, distribution and sequence, though the average GC content is nearly the same (45%). These B genome-specific repeats have been used to analyse the phylogenetic relationships between cultivated and wild species of the family Brassicaceae.     

Thecab-m7 gene: a light-inducible,mesophyll-specific gene of maize

Southern blot analysis has revealed the existence in maize of perhaps 12 members of the nuclearcab multigene family encoding the chlorophylla- andb-binding proteins of the photosystem II light-harvesting complex. Hybridization with 3 probes derived from unsequenced cDNA clones showed that six members of this family differ from one another with respect to expression in mesophyll and/or bundle sheath cells and regulation by light. An additional member of this family, designatedcab-m7, that encodes a 28 kDa primary translation product has now been identified. It has been cloned from a maize genomic library and sequenced to begin to define the bases for differences in the expression of these genes. Thiscab gene is shown to be strongly preferentially expressed in the mesophyll (vs. bundle sheath) cells of maize. Furthermore, the gene is photo-responsive; although small amounts ofcab-m7 mRNA are present in etiolated leaves, the mRNA pool is 8-fold larger after six hours of illumination. DNA sequences upstream of thecab-m7 gene resemble those found in the 5-flanking regions of some other plant genes.     

Calcium-free calmodulin is a substrate of proteases from human immunodeficiency viruses 1 and 2

Calcium-free calmodulin-(CaM) is rapidly hydrolyzed by proteases from both human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) 1 and 2. Kinetic analysis reveals a sequential order of cleavage by both proteases which initiates in regions of the molecule known from X-ray crystallographic analysis of Ca2+/CaM to be associated with calcium binding. Although HIV-1 and HIV-2 proteases hydrolyze two bonds in common, the initial site of cleavage required for subsequent events differs in each case. The first bond hydrolyzed by the HIV-1 protease is the Asn-Tyr linkage in the sequence, -N-I-D-G-D-G-Q-V-N-Y-E-E-, found in the fourth calcium binding loop. In contrast, it is an Ala-Ala bond in the third calcium loop, -D-K-D-G-N-G-Y-I-S-A-A-E-, that is first hydrolyzed by the HIV-2 enzyme, followed in short order by cleavage of the same Asn-Tyr linkage described above. Thereafter, both enzymes proceed to hydrolyze additional peptide bonds, some in common, some not. Considerable evidence exists that inhibitors are bound to the protease in an extended conformation and yet all of the cleavages we observed occur within, or at the beginning of helices in Ca2+/CaM, regions that also appear to be insufficiently exposed for protease binding. Molecular modeling studies indicate that CaM in solution must adopt a conformation in which the first cleavage site observed for each enzyme is unshielded and extended, and that subsequent cleavages involve further unwinding of helices.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Some common properties of lectins from marine algae

Twelve kinds of lectins isolated from four species of marine algae, Boodlea coacta (Chlorophyta) and Hypnea japonica, Carpopeltis flabellata and Solieria robusta (Rhodophyta), were compared for their chemical and biological properties. These lectins were proteins or glycoproteins, similar to terrestrial plant lectins. However, unlike most terrestrial plant lectins, they had a small molecular size (4,200 to 25,000 daltons), were mostly monomeric, and had no affinity for monosaccharides. They strongly agglutinated trypsin-treated rabbit erythrocytes, and their activities commonly were inhibited by glycoproteins bearing N-glycans. From hemagglutination-inhibition tests with various glycoproteins and related compounds, it was found that B. coacta lectins recognize high-mannose N-glycans; H. japonica lectins complex N-glycans, and C. flabellata and S. robusta lectins recognize both types of N-glycans.