Influence of alpha-linked glucose on jejunal sodium-glucose co-transport activity in ruminants.

Eight steers and 12 lambs were used in a completely randomized experimental design to determine the effect of partial alpha-amylase starch hydrolysate (SH) on small intestinal sodium-dependent glucose transport activity. Starch hydrolysate was delivered ruminally or abomasally to steers (960 g/day) and sheep (144 g/day) for 7 days. On day 7, the steers were rendered unconscious, exsanguinated and eviscerated. A 1-m section of jejunum was collected starting at the duodenojejunal flexure. Sheep were anaesthetized with pentobarbital and the second meter of small intestine (jejunum) was collected. Brush-border membrane vesicles were prepared and sodium-dependent glucose uptake activity was measured using the rapid uptake/filtration technique. Alkaline phosphatase and maltase activity was enriched by 8.2+/-0.5- and 8.4+/-1.2-fold in the vesicle preparation, respectively, and was not different between treatments. Abomasal SH increased (P=0.03) the Na/glucose co-transport approximately two-fold in both cattle (47.2-114.0+/-31.5 pmol/mgxsec) and sheep (77.4-152.0+/-25.7 pmol mg(-1) s(-1)). We conclude that Na/glucose co-transport activity by enterocytes responds to luminal alpha-linked glucose (from abomasal infusion) in ruminants, compared with controls. Intestinal maltase-specific activity does not respond to alpha-linked glucose in cattle, and decreases slightly in sheep.     

Phenotypic variation in susceptibility of honey bees,Apis mellifera,to infestation by tracheal mites,Acarapis woodi

A laboratory bioassay was used to study phenotypic differences in susceptibility of honey bees,Apis mellifera L., to tracheal mites,Acarapis woodi Rennie. Significantly different infestation frequencies were found in bees from 23 colonies containing queens that were instrumentally inseminated with single drones. Queens and drones originated from a closed population composed of commercial stock from various areas of the United States.Mites were randomly distributed with respect to right and left prothoracic tracheae. Tracheae containing mites were no more or less attractive to migrating mites than non-infested tracheae. The same quantity of progeny per female was produced in tracheae containing 1–3 mites. Female mites apparently do not migrate a second time after egg laying begins.The degree of phenotypic variation suggests that selection of honey bees for tracheal mite resistance is feasible.     

Tyrosine Hydroxylase Is Activated and Phosphorylated on Different Sites in Rat Pheochromocytoma PC12 Cells Treated with Phorbol Ester and Forskolin

Abstract: Incubation of rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells with 4β-phorbol-12β-myristate-13α-acetate (PMA), an activator of Ca²⁺/phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase C), or forskolin, an activator of adenylate cyclase, is associated with increased activity and enhanced phosphorylation of tyrosine hydroxylase. Neither the activation nor increased phosphorylation of tyrosine hydroxylase produced by PMA is dependent on extracellular Ca²⁺. Both activation and phosphorylation of the enzyme by PMA are inhibited by pretreatment of the cells with trifluo-perazine (TFP). Treatment of PC 12 cells with l-oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol also leads to increases in the phosphorylation and enzymatic activity of tyrosine hydroxylase; 1, 2-diolein and 1, 3-diolein are ineffective. The effects of forskolin on the activation and phosphorylation of the enzyme are independent of Ca²⁺ and are not inhibited by TIT⁵. Forskolin elicits an increase in cyclic AMP levels in PC 12 cells. The increases in both cyclic AMP content and the enzymatic activity and phosphorylation of tyrosine hydroxylase following exposure of PC 12 cells to different concentrations of forskolin are closely correlated. In contrast, cyclic AMP levels do not increase in cells treated with PMA. Tryptic digestion of the phosphorylated enzyme isolated from untreated cells yields four phosphopeptides separable by HPLC. Incubation of the cells in the presence of the Ca²⁺ ionophore ionomycin increases the phosphorylation of three of these tryptic peptides. However, in cells treated with either PMA or forskolin, there is an increase in the phosphorylation of only one of these peptides derived from tyrosine hydroxylase. The peptide phosphorylated in PMA-treated cells is different from that phosphorylated in forskolin-treated cells. The latter peptide is identical to the peptide phosphorylated in dibutyryl cyclic AMP-treated cells. These results indicate that tyrosine hydroxylase is activated and phosphorylated on different sites in PC 12 cells exposed to PMA and forskolin and that phosphorylation of either of these sites is associated with activation of tyrosine hydroxylase. The results further suggest that cyclic AMP-dependent and Ca²⁺/ phospholipid-dependent protein kinases may play a role in the regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase in PC 12 cells.     

Repair of benzo[a]pyrene-initiated DNA damage in human cells requires activation of DNA polymerase alpha

Normal human fibroblasts treated with r-7,t-8-dihydroxy-t-9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (BPDE) yielded DNA polymerase alpha with elevated levels of activity, incorporated [3H]thymidine as a function of unscheduled DNA synthesis, and exhibited restoration of normal DNA-strand length as a function of unscheduled DNA synthesis. Lipoprotein-deficient fibroblasts treated with BPDE did not show elevated levels of DNA polymerase alpha activity, exhibited minimal [3H]thymidine incorporation, and had fragmented DNA after 24 h of repair in the absence of lipoprotein or phosphatidylinositol supplementation. When DNA polymerase beta activity was inhibited, cells with normal lipoprotein uptake exhibited [3H]thymidine incorporation into BPDE-damaged DNA but did not show an increase in DNA-strand length. DNA polymerase alpha activity and [3H]thymidine incorporation in lipoprotein-deficient fibroblasts increased to normal levels when the cells were permeabilized and low-density lipoproteins or phosphatidylinositol were introduced into the cells. DNA polymerase alpha isolated from normal human fibroblasts, but not from lipoprotein-deficient fibroblasts, showed increased specific activity after the cells were treated with BPDE. When BPDE-treated lipoprotein-deficient fibroblasts were permeabilized and 32P-ATP was introduced into the cells along with lipoproteins, 32P-labeled DNA polymerase alpha with significantly increased specific activity was isolated from the cells. These data suggest that treatment of human fibroblasts with BPDE initiates unscheduled DNA synthesis, as a function of DNA excision repair, which is correlated with increased activity of DNA polymerase alpha, and that increased DNA polymerase alpha activity may be correlated with phosphorylation of the enzyme in a reaction that is stimulated by low-density lipoprotein or by the lipoprotein component, phosphatidylinositol.     

Identification of somatic hybrids in plant protoplast fusions with monoclonal antibodies to plasma-membrane antigens

Monoclonal antibodies generated by immunization with a plasma-membrane preparation from suspension-cultured cells of Nicotiana glutinosa L. were used in combination with fluoresceinor rhodamine-labeled goat anti-mouse immunoglobulins to identify heterokaryons in protoplast fusion procedures. Antibody labeling did not inhibit callus formation nor plantlet regeneration. The antibodies are non-invasive and surface labeling provides clear optical discrimination of true heterokaryons from unfused aggregates as well as from parental protoplasts and homokaryons. Labeling is stable throughout fusion and hence by pre-labeling parental protoplast populations the strategy is both versatile and of general applicability.     

Metabolic pathways from 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 to 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-26,23-lactone. Stereo-retained and stereo-selective lactonization

The present study was carried out in order to elucidate the metabolic pathway from 1 alpha,25-(OH)2D3 to 1 alpha,25-(OH)2D3-26,23-lactone. For that purpose, we stereospecifically synthesized the vitamin D3 derivatives 1 alpha,23(S),25-(OH)3D3, 1 alpha,23(S),25(R),26-tetrahydroxyvitamin D3, and 23(S),25(R)-1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-lactol. The in vitro metabolism of these compounds was examined in kidney homogenates and intestinal mucosa homogenates from 1 alpha,25-(OH)2D3-supplemented chicks. The naturally occurring 23(S),25(R)-1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-26,23-lactone was produced (in increasing amounts) from 1 alpha,25-(OH)2D3, 1 alpha,25(R),26-(OH)3D3, 1 alpha,23(S),25-(OH),D3, 1 alpha,23(S),25(R),26-(OH)4D3, and 23(S),25(R)-1 alpha,25-(OH)2D3-26,23-lactol. These results indicated that there are two possible metabolic pathways from 1 alpha,25-(OH)2D3 to 1 alpha,23(S),25(R),26-(OH)4D3: the major one is by way of 1 alpha,23(S),25-(OH)3D3 and the minor one is by way of 1 alpha,25(R),26-(OH)3D3. 1 alpha,23(S),25(R),26-Tetrahydroxyvitamin D3 is further metabolized to 23(S),25(R)-1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-26,23-lactone via 23(S),25(R)-1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-26,23-lactol. In the course of our studies, a new biosynthetic vitamin D3 metabolite was isolated in pure form. This metabolite was identified as 23(S),25(R)-1 alpha,25-(OH)2D3-26,23-lactol by UV spectrophotometry and mass spectrometry. Furthermore, we establish in this report that the lactonization of 1 alpha,23,25,26-(OH)4D3 and 1 alpha,25-(OH)2D3-26,23-lactol occurs in a stereo-retained and stereo-selective fashion.     

Conservation of δ-crystallin gene structure between ducks and chickens

A cloned chicken delta-crystallin cDNA was used to identify two putative delta-crystallin genes in the duck by Southern blot hybridization. A DNA fragment containing most of one of these genes was isolated from a library made in bacteriophage lambda Charon 28A containing genomic DNA from 14-day-old embryonic ducks. Electron microscopy, partial gene sequencing, primer extension analysis using duck mRNA, and comparison with the well-characterized chicken delta-crystallin genes suggest that our cloned duck delta-crystallin gene, like the chicken delta-crystallin genes, is 8-10 kb long and contains 17 exons. Hybridization and sequencing data show great similarity between the homologous 5' untranslated and coding exons of the duck and chicken delta-crystallin genes. Overall, the homologous introns also appear to have approximately 30% sequence similarity, and have been subject to deletion/insertion events. Our partial characterization of duck delta-crystallin gene sequences suggests that this avian and reptilian crystallin family has been conserved during evolution, as have the other crystallin gene families that are expressed in the eye lens.     

Factors associated with involuntary admission to psychiatric facilities in Newfoundland.

To assess what factors determine the involuntary status of psychiatric patients, we reviewed the case records of 5729 patients consecutively admitted to one of four inpatient psychiatric facilities, including a mental hospital, in St. John''s between October 1975 and October 1978. Of the 5729 patients 5005 (87.4%) were voluntary and 724 (12.6%) involuntary. Involuntary patients were more likely than voluntary patients to be male, single and unemployed and to have been referred by police or transferred from another facility to the mental hospital, where most of the involuntary admissions occurred. They had higher rates of previous admissions to a psychiatric facility and of suicidal and violent behaviour, were more likely to have a diagnosis of schizophrenia or mania and were less likely to be suffering from depression or a neurotic disorder. In correspondence with differences in diagnosis, involuntary patients stayed in hospital more than twice as long as voluntary patients, were less likely to receive electroconvulsive therapy, minor tranquillizers and antidepressants, and were more likely to receive neuroleptics and lithium carbonate. Stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed that only the source of referral and a diagnosis of neurotic disorder had an independent effect on admission status. The findings are discussed in the context of the controversy over the parens patriae approach v. the legal approach to involuntary admission of psychiatric patients.