长豇豆（Vigna sesquipedalis）生物学特性观察

豇豆近年来公认原产于热带西非(原生中心)和印度次大陆(次生中心)。种子含蛋白质25.0%,在豆类中仅次于大豆,比牛肉、猪肉和鸡肉的蛋白质含量都要高。鲜果含86%的水,3.3%的蛋白质,7.5%的碳水化合物,是广大人民喜爱的蔬菜。我国通常作蔬菜栽培的是长豇豆,又名豆角,其生物学特性的记载并不详尽。为此,我们对长豇豆作了进一步系统的观察,为育种和丰产栽培提供了必要的理论依据。     

“Unblocking” Serum Activity <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis> in the Polyoma System may Correlate with Antitumour Effects of Antiserum <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vivo</Emphasis>

In a variety of tumour systems, individuals carrying progressively growing neoplasms have lymphoid cells with a specific cytotoxic effect on cultured tumour cells from the same individual^1–4. Since the sera of tumour-bearing individuals have been shown to prevent tumour cell destruction by immune lymphocytes in vitro^2,5–8 and since this serum blocking activity appears early in primary and transplant tumour development^5,7, it has been suggested that the appearance of this serum blocking activity might be responsible for the progressive growth of tumours in individuals having cytotoxic lymphocytes. Counteraction of this blocking activity would thus be of primary importance in facilitating the function of an already existing or bolstered cell-mediated immunity. The serum blocking activity might be inhibited in various ways, by preventing the formation of blocking antibody or by interfering with its action (“unblocking”), as demonstrated in Moloney sarcoma regressor sera⁹. This type of serum also has a therapeutic effect on Moloney sarcomas in vivo^10,11, which has been tentatively attributed to its unblocking activity^8,9 or, possibly, to a complement-dependent cytotoxicity¹⁰. Tumour growth in the Moloney sarcoma system, however, might be due in part to continuous recruitment of neoplastic cells by virus-induced transformation and so the therapeutic effect could be due to a virus-neutralizing serum activity^9,10.     

On the mechanism of ATP-induced shape changes in the human erythrocyte membranes: the role of ATP

In the preceding paper (Sheetz, M. and S.J. Singer. 1977. J Cell Biol. 73:638-646) it was shown that erythrocyte ghosts undergo pronounced shape changes in the presence of mg-ATP. The biochemical effects of the action of ATP are herein examined. The biochemical effects of the action of ATP are herein examined. Phosphorylation by ATP of spectrin component 2 of the erythrocyte membrane is known to occur. We have shown that it is only membrane protein that is significantly phosphorylated under the conditions where the shape changes are produced. The extent of this phosphorylation rises with increasing ATP concentration, reaching nearly 1 mol phosphoryle group per mole of component 2 at 8mM ATP. Most of this phosphorylation appears to occur at a single site on the protein molecule, according to cyanogen bromide peptide cleavage experiments. The degree of phosphorylation of component 2 is apparently also regulated by a membrane-bound protein phosphatase. This activity can be demonstrated in erythrocyte ghosts prepared from intact cells prelabeled with [(32)P]phosphate. In addition to the phosphorylation of component 2, some phosphorylation of lipids, mainly of phosphatidylinositol, is also known to occur. The ghost shape changes are, however, shown to be correlated with the degree of phosphorylation of component 2. In such experiment, the incorporation of exogenous phosphatases into ghosts reversed the shape changes produced by ATP, or by the membrane-intercalating drug chlorpromazine. The results obtained in this and the preceding paper are consistent with the proposal that the erythrocyte membrane possesses kinase and phosphates activities which produce phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of a specific site on spectrin component 2 molecules; the steady-state level of this phosphorylation regulates the structural state of the spectrin complex on the cytoplasmic surface of the membrane, which in turn exerts an important control on the shape of the cell.     

Selective inhibition of prostaglandin biosynthesis by gold salts and phenylbutazone

Gold salts and phenylbutazone selectively inhibit the synthesis of PGF_2α and PGE₂ respectively. Lowered production of one prostaglandin species is accompanied by an increased production of the other. Selective inhibition by these drugs was observed in the presence of adrenaline, reduced glutathione and copper sulphate under conditions when most anti-inflammatory compounds inhibited PGE₂ and PGF_2α syntheses equally. It is postulated that selective inhibitors may have a different mode of action and beneficial effects may be related to the endogenous ratio of PGE to PGF required for normal function.     

慢性乙型肝炎患者肠道菌群与肝脏生化指标的相关性

乙型肝炎病毒感染引起的慢性乙型肝炎 (Chronic hepatitis B,CHB) 是一种全球性流行疾病,严重时可引起肝功能衰竭,甚至发展成肝硬化和肝癌。也已发现CHB的发生和发展与肠道菌群的组成和结构的变化密切相关。为进一步探究肠道菌群结构与肝脏生化指标之间的联系,文中随机纳入14名CHB患者和11名健康对照者 (Control group,CN),分析其肝脏生化指标和肠道菌群的结构以及两者的相关性。结果发现CHB患者肝脏生化指标丙氨酸转氨酶 (Alanine transaminase,ALT)、总胆红素 (Total bilirubin,TBIL) 和γ-谷氨酰转移酶 (Gamma glutamyl transferase,GGT) 等的水平发生显著变化;普雷沃氏菌属Prevotella、劳特氏菌属Blautia、瘤胃球菌属Ruminococcus、Eubacterium eligens group等菌属失调;单形拟杆菌Bacteroides uniformis和Ruminococcus sp. 5_1_39BFAA可能与CHB患者的肝损伤相关,提示这些菌可能成为治疗CHB的新“切入点”。     

A web server to locate periodicities in a sequence

Summary : FT is a tool written in C++, which implements the Fourier analysis method to locate periodicities in aminoacid or DNA sequences. It is provided for free public use on a WWW server with a Java interface. Availability : The server address is http://o2.db. uoa.gr/FT Contact : shamodr@atlas.uoa.gr      

Amiloride does not alter NaCl avoidance in Fischer-344 rats

Fischer-344 (F-344) rats differ from other common rat strains in that they fail to show any preference for NaCl at any concentration in two- bottle preference tests. Because 100 microM amiloride partially blocks the NaCl-evoked chorda tympani (CT) response in electrophysiological studies, we tested NaCl preference (0.068-0.273 M) in F-344 rats with and without 100 microM amiloride solution as the solvent. A third group was tested with unadulterated NaCl solutions following CT transection. Amiloride had no significant effect on the NaCl preference-aversion function, whereas CT transection significantly reduced NaCl avoidance. These results suggest that the amiloride-sensitive component of the NaCl response is not necessary for F-344 rats to display avoidance of NaCl, but the entire CT input is.