The role of intracellular calcium in the ischemic myocardial damage

The isolated, perfused ventricles of guinea-pig and rat hearts stimulated at the rate of 60/min were equilibrated for 60 min with 45Ca containing solution. Thereafter some of them were perfused for the last 10 min of experiment with deoxygenated (pO2 = 35 not equal to 7 mm Hg) radioactive solution. Hypoxia resulted in decrease of exchangeable calcium (45Ca) content by 0.90 mmol/kg w.w. in guinea-pig and by 0.26 mmol/kg w.w. in the rat. The amount of 15Ca lost by guinea-pig ventricles is equal to the content of rate-dependent fraction Ca2 described in the previous papers [Pytkowski et al., 1983; Lewartowski et al., 1984]. The isolated papillary muscles of the right ventricles of guinea-pig and rat hearts were subjected to 90 min of ischemia simulated by immersion in the warm, deoxygenated paraffin oil. Some of the guinea-pig muscles were deprived of Ca2 fraction by means of prolonged rest (20 min) immediately prior to ischemia. All the preparations were quiescent during ischemia. The guinea-pig muscles deprived of fraction Ca2 and the rat muscles developed much weaker contracture during ischemia and showed better recovery of phasic contraction upon reperfusion than the guinea-pig muscles containing Ca2 fraction prior to ischemia. We propose that Ca2 fraction is released from its binding sites at the early phases of ischemia contributing to the disturbances in Ca homeostasis and to mechanism of damage of ischemic cardiac muscle.     

1917 avian influenza virus sequences suggest that the 1918 pandemic virus did not acquire its hemagglutinin directly from birds

Wild waterfowl captured between 1915 and 1919 were tested for influenza A virus RNA. One bird, captured in 1917, was infected with a virus of the same hemagglutinin (HA) subtype as that of the 1918 pandemic virus. The 1917 HA is more closely related to that of modern avian viruses than it is to that of the pandemic virus, suggesting (i) that there was little drift in avian sequences over the past 85 years and (ii) that the 1918 pandemic virus did not acquire its HA directly from a bird.     

Phosphorus-containing isothiocyanate-derived mercapturic acids as a useful alternative for parental isothiocyanates in experimental oncology

A series of phosphonates, phosphinates and phosphine oxides isothiocyanate-derived mercapturic acids were synthesized. A temperature dependence dynamic proton decoupled ³¹P NMR studies indicated that in most cases the compounds were obtained as a mixture of rotamers. Moreover, biologically relevant reversibility of mercapturic acids synthesis from the parental isothiocyanates was confirmed. All compounds were evaluated as highly active antiproliferative agents in vitro in human colon cancer cell lines (LoVo and its doxorubicin-resistant subline LoVo/DX). The cell cycle progression and caspase-3 activity analyses revealed compounds moderate activity as apoptosis inducers and their poor influence on cell cycle progression in the LoVo cells. Our results confirm that isothiocyanate-derived mercapturic acids present a reasonable alternative for the parental compounds, and can replace them in the future studies on isothiocyanates potential as anticancer agents.     

Molecular genetic divergence of orang utan (Pongo pygmaeus) subspecies based on isozyme and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis

The orang utan (Pongo pygmaeus), as currently recognized, includes two geographically separated subspecies: Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus, which resides on Borneo, and P. p. abelii, which inhabits Sumatra. At present, there is no known route of gene flow between the two populations except through captive individuals which have been released back into the wild over the last several decades. The two subspecies are differentiated by morphological and behavioral characters, and they can be distinguished by a subspecies specific pericentric chromosomal inversion. Nei-genetic distances were estimated between orang utan subspecies, gorilla, chimpanzee and humans using 44 isozyme loci and using 458 soluble fibroblast proteins which were resolved by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Phenetic analysis of both data sets supports the following conclusions: the orang utan subspecies distances are approximately 10 times closer to each other than they are to the African apes, and the orang utan subspecies are approximately as divergent as are the two chimpanzee species. Comparison of the genetic distances to genetic distance estimates done in the same laboratory under identical conditions reveals that the distance between Bornean vs. Sumatran orang utans is 5-10 times the distance measured between several pairs of subspecies including lions, cheetahs, and tigers. Near species level molecular genetic distances between orang utan subspecies would support the separate management of Bornean and Sumatran orang utans as evolutionary significant units (Ryder 1987). Evolutionary topologies were constructed from the distance data using both cladistic and phenetic methods. The majority of resulting trees affirmed previous molecular evolutionary studies that indicated that man and chimpanzee diverged from a common ancestor subsequent to the divergence of gorilla from the common ancestor.     

Integrating historical, clinical and molecular genetic data in order to explain the origin and virulence of the 1918 Spanish influenza virus.

The Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 caused acute illness in 25-30% of the world's population and resulted in the death of 40 million people. The complete genomic sequence of the 1918 influenza virus will be deduced using fixed and frozen tissues of 1918 influenza victims. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses of the complete 1918 haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes show them to be the most avian-like of mammalian sequences and support the hypothesis that the pandemic virus contained surface protein-encoding genes derived from an avian influenza strain and that the 1918 virus is very similar to the common ancestor of human and classical swine H1N1 influenza strains. Neither the 1918 HA genes nor the NA genes possessed mutations that are known to increase tissue tropicity, which accounts for the virulence of other influenza strains such as A/WSN/33 or fowl plague viruses. The complete sequence of the nonstructural (NS) gene segment of the 1918 virus was deduced and tested for the hypothesis that the enhanced virulence in 1918 could have been due to type I interferon inhibition by the NS1 protein. The results from these experiments were inconclusive. Sequence analysis of the 1918 pandemic influenza virus is allowing us to test hypotheses as to the origin and virulence of this strain. This information should help to elucidate how pandemic influenza strains emerge and what genetic features contribute to their virulence.     

Engineered early embryonic cardiac tissue retains proliferative and contractile properties of developing embryonic myocardium

Embryonic myocardium has a high rate of cell proliferation and regulates cellular proliferation, contractile function, and myocardial architecture in response to changes in external mechanical loads. However, the small and complex three-dimensional (3D) structure of the embryonic myocardium limits our ability to directly investigate detailed relationships between mechanical load, contractile function, and cardiomyocyte proliferation. We developed a novel 3D engineered early embryonic cardiac tissue (EEECT) from early embryonic ventricular cells to test the hypothesis that EEECT retains the proliferative and contractile properties of embryonic myocardium. We combined freshly isolated White Leghorn chicken embryonic ventricular cells at Hamburger-Hamilton (HH) stage 31 (day 7 of a 46-stage, 21-day incubation period), collagen type I, and matrix factors to construct cylindrical-shaped EEECTs. We studied tissue architecture, cell proliferation patterns, and contractile function. We then generated engineered fetal cardiac tissue (EFCT) from HH stage 40 (day 14) fetal ventricular cells for direct comparison with EEECT. Tissue architecture was similar in EEECT and EFCT. EEECT maintained high cell proliferation patterns by culture day 12, whereas EFCT decreased cell proliferation rate by culture day 9 (P < 0.05). EEECT increased active contractile force from culture day 7 to day 12. The culture day 12 EEECT contractile response to the beta-adrenergic stimulation was less than culture day 9 EFCT (P < 0.05). Cyclic mechanical stretch stimulation induced myocardial hyperplasia in EEECT. Results indicate that EEECT retains the proliferative and contractile properties of developing embryonic myocardium and shows potential as a robust in vitro model of developing embryonic myocardium.