Synthesis and transport of the organic matrix of the spicules in the gorgonian Leptogorgia virgulata (Lamarck) (Coelenterata: Gorgonacea)

Summary The sequence of the synthesis and transport of the organic matrix of spicules has been elucidated in the gorgonian Leptogorgia virgulata by use of ³H-aspartic acid as the tracer in electron-microscopic autoradiography. The entire process of matrix synthesis and transport takes approximately 2 h. It seems that the protein moiety of the organic matrix is synthesized in the RER prior to 5 min following the initial 10 min incubation in the tracer. At the 5 min chase the label is moving from the RER to the Golgi complexes where the carbohydrate moiety of the matrix is presumed to be synthesized. At the 5 to 15 min chases the label is transported out of the Golgi complexes via Golgi vesicles. This phase continues for 30 min. From 60 to 120 min the ³H-aspartic acid moves to the spicules. After 120 min the majority of the label has moved into the spicules. Silver grain counts over both multivesicular and electron-dense bodies remain at relatively low and constant levels over 4 h indicating that neither organelle is involved in the synthesis and transport of the organic matrix.Contribution No 512; Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA     

Clinical effectiveness of biologics in clinical practice

TNF inhibitors are currently considered both effective and cost-effective in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), particularly in patients who have not responded fully to methotrexate. There is substantial doubt about the cost-effectiveness of TNF inhibitors as initial treatment for active RA. New data from the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases now question the current consensus in methotrexate failures. The data suggest that in routine clinical practice TNF inhibitors provide only modest incremental benefits over best conventional therapy. If confirmed, these observational studies suggest that the economic argument underpinning the widespread use of TNF inhibitors in established RA is unsustainable.     

A technique for simultaneous antikinetochore immunofluorescence staining and Q-banding in chromosomes from human lymphocytes

Antikinetochore immunofluorescence staining has been used in several studies to determine whether a second kinetochore is present, active, or both, in multicentric chromosomes. All of these studies have used tissue culture cells, and contended with the problem of obtaining well spread, banded metaphase chromosomes without affecting the kinetochore staining. We have adapted hypotonic, centrifugation and chromosome staining techniques to obtain simultaneous Q-banding and bright kinetochore staining of chromosomes from human lymphocytes.     

Cloning of GT box-binding proteins: a novel Sp1 multigene family regulating T-cell receptor gene expression.

Analysis of a T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) alpha promoter from a variable gene segment (V) revealed a critical GT box element which is also found in upstream regions of several V alpha genes, TCR enhancer, and regulatory elements of other genes. This element is necessary for TCR gene expression and binds several proteins. These GT box-binding proteins were identified as members of a novel Sp1 multigene family. Two of them, which we term Sp2 and Sp3, were cloned. Sp2 and Sp3 contain zinc fingers and transactivation domains similar to those of Sp1. Like Sp1, Sp2 and Sp3 are expressed ubiquitously, and their in vitro-translated products bind to the GT box in TCR V alpha promoters. Sp3, in particular, also binds to the Sp1 consensus sequence GC box and has binding activity similar to that of Sp1. As the GT box has also previously been shown to play a role in gene regulation of other genes, these newly isolated Sp2 and Sp3 proteins might regulate expression not only of the TCR gene but of other genes as well.     

Body size, age and reproduction in the leopard toad, Bufo pardalis

Data on the relationships between body size and age were obtained for a sample of leopard toads Bufo pardalis from a breeding population of this species from the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Age was determined by counting the number of lines of arrested growth in histological sections of a digit clipped from each individual. In males there was a positive, but weak, correlation (explaining only 18% of the variance) between body size and age, and in females no correlation at all existed between these two variables. Males which were successful in obtaining matings were not older than unsuccessful males. Age of males at the breeding site ranged from one to three years, whereas females ranged from two to six years old. This represents both the earliest age of reproduction, as well as the greatest difference in longevity between the sexes, documented for an anuran species.