Negative surface charge density near heart calcium channels. Relevance to block by dihydropyridines

We have measured the density of negative surface charges near the voltage sensor for inactivation gating of (L-type) Ca channels in intact calf Purkinje fibers and in isolated myocytes from guinea pig and rat ventricles. Divalent cation-induced changes in the half-maximal voltage for inactivation were determined and were well described by curves predicted by surface potential theory. We measured shifts in inactivation induced by Ca, Sr, and Ba in the single cells, and by Sr in the Purkinje fibers. All of the data were consistent with an estimated negative surface charge density of 1 electronic charge per 250 A2. In addition, the data suggest that Ca, but neither Ba nor Sr, binds to the negative charges with an association constant on the order of 1 M-1. We find that divalent ion-induced changes in surface potential can account for most of the antagonism between these ions and Ca channel block by 1,4-dihydropyridines.     

Quantitative assessment of vaginal microflora during use of tampons of various compositions.

Although the effect of vaginal tampons on the microbial flora during menstruation has recently been studied by several investigators, quantitative effects attributable to particular tampon fibers have received less attention. The purposes of the present study were (i) to determine and then to compare the effects of polyacrylate rayon tampons and viscose rayon tampons on the normal vaginal flora, (ii) to compare quantitative bacterial counts obtained from these tampons with those obtained from concomitant vaginal swabs, and (iii) to determine whether either of these tampon types alters the vaginal microflora when compared with the microflora in the same women using all-cotton tampons or external catamenial pads. Tampon and swab samples were obtained at predetermined times from 18 women for an average of seven menstrual cycles. Samples consisting of swabs from women wearing menstrual pads were compared with swab and tampon samples taken at predetermined times during the menstrual cycle from women using cotton, polyacrylate rayon, or viscose rayon tampons. Samples were analyzed for total aerobic, facultative, and anaerobic bacterial counts. Statistical evaluation of the results indicated that, on the whole, total bacterial counts decreased during menstruation and that the numbers of bacteria in tampons tended to be lower than those in swab samples taken at the same time. The tampon type had little effect on the vaginal microflora.     

The eccentric cell of theLimulus lateral eye: encoder of circadian changes in visual responses

Efferent fibers from a central circadian clock innervate both photoreceptor cells and second-order neurons (eccentric cells) in the lateral compound eye ofLimulus, and release octopamine when activated. We have used intracellular microelectrodes to study the modulation of eccentric cell function by efferent optic-nerve activity, octopamine agonists, and a K⁺-channel blocker, TEA.

Identification of lymphocyte subpopulations with a polymethine dye

Using the polymethine dye p-ethoxyphenyl-p-aminostyryl-1,3,3-trimethyl-3H-indolium chloride as an aqueous stain applied to specimens of peripheral blood or buffy coat fixed in FAA fixative, differential coloration of leukocytes was achieved using darkfield illumination. Neutrophils stained dark maroon and contained green granules, eosinophils contained bright blue granules, basophils revealed yellow and pink granules, and monocytes stained green with green and yellow vacuoles. In studies of purified lymphocyte subpopulations obtained in a cell sorter, T-helper cells stained red, T-suppressor cells were yellow orange, B-cells appeared yellow and often contained yellow annular structures in the cytoplasm, and natural killer (NK) cells stained green and contained large green granules. As a rapid screening technique for identification of T-helper and T-suppressor cells and their ratios in health and disease, the new polymethine stain may complement the more complex monoclonal antibody techniques for identification of these cells.     

Phosphorus availability under alley cropping and mulched and unmulched sole cropping systems in Costa Rica

Phosphorus availability was measured in soils under five cropping systems: alley cropping with Erythrina poeppigiana, alley cropping with Gliricidia sepium, sole cropping with Erythrina poeppigiana mulch applied, sole cropping with Gliricidia sepium mulch applied, sole cropping with no mulch. The following parameters were measured: 1) plant-available soil P assessed by P uptake of maize and bean bioassay plants; 2) phosphate desorbable by anion exchange resin; 3) adsorption of added P into isotopically exchangeable and non-exchangeable pools.In the bioassay, P uptake of beans declined in the order: mulched sole-cropped>unmulched sole-cropped>alley-cropped soils. For maize the relative uptake was: mulched sole-cropped>unmulched sole-cropped = alley-cropped soils. These results suggest trees had not incorporated a significant quantity of P into the system after seven years and, probably, there was a decrease in available soil P due to the sequestration of P in the tree biomass. Potentially resin-desorbable P was higher in alley-cropped and mulched sole-cropped soils than in unmulched sole-cropped soils. The adsorption and desorption of added P into and from exchangeable and non-exchangeable pools did not differ between alley-cropped and unmulched sole-cropped soils.Crop yield and crop N, P and K uptake were all higher in the alley crops than in the unmulched sole crop. The supply of P to the crop under alley cropping seems to be dependent on P cycled and released from the mulch. The P cycle in alley cropping appears to be self-sustaining at least under conditions of moderate P fertiliser input.     

Delayed rectification in the calf cardiac Purkinje fiber. Evidence for multiple state kinetics.

We have investigated the delayed rectifier current (Ix) in the calf cardiac Purkinje fiber using a conventional two-microelectrode voltage clamp arrangement. The deactivation of Ix was monitored by studying decaying current tails after the application of depolarizing voltage prepulses. The reversal potential (Vrev) of these Ix tails was measured as a function of prepulse magnitude and duration to test for possible permeant ion accumulation- or depletion-induced changes in Vrev. We found that prepulse-induced changes in Vrev were less than 5 mV, provided that prepulse durations were less than or equal to 3.5 s and magnitudes were less than or equal to +35 mV. We kept voltage pulse structures within these limits for the remainder of the experiments in this study. We studied the sensitivity of Vrev to variation in extracellular K+. The reversal potential for Ix is well described by a Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz relation for a channel permeable to Na+ and K+ with PNa/PK = 0.02. The deactivation of Ix was always found to be biexponential and the two components shared a common reversal potential. These results suggest that it is not necessary to postulate the existence of two populations of channels to account for the time course of the Ix tails. Rather, our results can quantitatively be reproduced by a model in which the Ix channel can exist in three (two closed, one open) conformational states connected by voltage dependent rate constants.     

Molecular events in B cell activation. I. Signals required to stimulate G0 to G1 transition of resting B lymphocytes

Anti-immunoglobulin antibodies (anti-Ig) can stimulate a majority of resting B cells via their receptor Ig. Evidence suggests that the signals generated after this ligand-receptor interaction may be transduced via hydrolysis of inositol phospholipids. In other systems, the ability of inositol phospholipid hydrolysis to link receptor-ligand interactions to subsequent activational events has been suggested to relate to the ability of metabolic intermediates of this hydrolytic process to facilitate activation of protein kinase C and mobilization of Ca+2. In this study, we investigated the importance of protein kinase C and Ca+2 mobilization in the signaling mechanism by which anti-Ig drives B cells to undergo G0 to G1 transition. Our results show that pharmacologic inhibition of either protein kinase C activity or channel-mediated Ca+2 influx completely abrogates the increase in RNA synthesis associated with B cell activation after stimulation by anti-Ig. This suggests that pathways leading to both protein kinase C activation and elevation of intracellular Ca+2 are critical for receptor Ig-mediated G0 to G1 transition. Furthermore, studies in which anti-Ig-induced signaling could be bypassed by directly facilitating Ca+2 mobilization and protein kinase C activation using Ca+2 ionophore and phorbol diester show that these events are sufficient to drive the majority of resting B cells into G1 in the absence of additional signaling from accessory cells or extra-cellular factors. However, like anti-Ig-induced stimulation, Ca+2 ionophore and phorbol diester are relatively inefficient in driving B cells that have entered G1 into S phase. We discuss the relevance of these results towards the transduction mechanism linking B cell membrane-associated Ig-generated signals with subsequent activation events.     

A molecular basis for familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: an alpha/beta cardiac myosin heavy chain hybrid gene

An alpha/beta cardiac myosin heavy chain (MHC) hybrid gene is coinherited with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC) in one kindred. FHC is a disease of the heart muscle characterized by a thickening of the left ventricular wall with myocyte and myofibrillar disarray that is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. We demonstrate here and in the accompanying article that the cardiac MHC genes, which encode integral myofibrillar components, are mutated in all affected individuals from two unrelated families with FHC. In one kindred, an unequal crossover event during meiosis may have produced the alpha/beta cardiac MHC hybrid gene that is present in affected individuals. We conclude that mutations in the cardiac MHC genes can cause FHC.