Enzymatic System of Metabolism and Detoxication of Xenobiotics as a Basis of Metabolic Portraiting during Prognostication of Risk of Pathological Processes

We studied intraspecific features of the main enzymes of metabolism and detoxication of xenobiotics on mice (eight inbred lines) and rats (five lines) for estimation of possible variants of complete or incomplete metabolic equality. Significant genetically determined intraspecific differences for activities of the enzymes of metabolism and detoxication of xenobiotics were described. Generalized criteria for comparison of the metabolic status were proposed on the basis of activities of the main enzymes: cytochrome P-450 (hydroxylation and epoxidation), epoxyhydrolase, glutathione-S-transferase, UDP-glucuronosyl transferase, and sulfotransferase. The proposed criteria for estimation of the metabolic parameters of an individual can serve as a basis of metabolic portraiting.     

Morphological characteristics of cultured fresh and thawed pericardium cells

The need for selection of the optimal material for the manufacturing of cardio-patches can be resolved by the use of cryostored autologous pericardial tissue. This short communication is a concise fragment of a large-scale research and demonstrates only the efficiency of cell culturing before and after pericardial preservation in the low temperature conditions.     

Structure of the mammillary bodies of the hypothalamus of the bottlenosed dolphin

In the bottlenosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) the hypothalamic corpus mammillaris has been studied using interperpendicular, sagittal, frontal and horizontal serial sections, impregnated in silver and stained with cresil-violet. Comparatively small dimentions of the corpora mammillaria in the bottlenosed dolphin are explained by presence of only two nuclei, medial and lateral. The lateral nucleus is nearly three times as large as the medial one. The size of the neurons in the medial nucleus is on the average two times as large as that of neurons in the lateral nucleus. The density of the neural cells distribution is a little greater in the lateral nucleus. The structure of the bottlenosed dolphin corpora mammillaria is compared with similar structures in other animals and the human being.     

Reversal potential for monosynaptic EPSP in frog motoneurons

Experiments were conducted on brain isolated from the frogRana ridibunda using a current chop technique of transmembrane polarization and discrete measurement of membrane potential by a single microelectrode during intervals between waves of current. It was found that the current-voltage relationship of the motorneuron is non-linear; i.e., membrane resistance decreases considerably in step with increased depolarizing current. After the initial reduction, membrane resistance began to climb back when a more protracted current lasting 1–2 min was applied; consequently membrane potential level shifted towards more positive values of +50 mV and above at current levels of 40–60 nA. It then became possible to bring about complete reversal of monosynaptic EPSP produced in the lumbar motoneurons by stimulation of the brainstem reticular formation or by microelectrode stimulation of the ventrolateral tract descending fibers and to measure reversal potential of these EPSP directly, without resorting to computing or extrapolation. Measurements varied mainly between 0 and –10 mV.I. M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 534–542, July–August, 1986.     

Integration of foreign genome fragments into cells transformed or cotransformed with fragmented adenoviral DNA

The integration of DNA of highly oncogenic simian adenovirus type 7 (SA7) and non-oncogenic human adenovirus type 6 (Ad6) into the genome of newborn rat kidney cells transformed by fragmented DNA preparations was studied using reassociation kinetics and spot hybridization. Transforming DNA was fragmented with the specific endonuclease SalI (SA7) and BglII (Ad6). In contrast to the cell transformation by intact viral DNA, transformation by fragmented DNA resulted in integration into the cellular genome of not only the lefthand fragment with the oncogene but also of other regions of the viral genome. Additionally integrated fragments were stable and preserved during numerous passages of cells lines, although they were no expressed, at least in the case of the Ad6-transformed cell line. The integration of the fragments of SA7 DNA was accompanied by loss of 25-50% of the mass of each fragment. Adding the linear form of the pBR322 plasmid to the preparation of transforming Ad6 DNA also contributed to its cointegration into the genome of the transformed cell. This technique of cell cotransformation with any foreign DNAs together with the viral oncogens may be used as an equivalent of an integration vector for eukaryotic cells.     

Purification and characterization of the immunostimulatory properties of recombinant human interleukin-1 beta

In this study we have used a new method for human recombinant IL-1 beta (rIL-1 beta) purification and investigated its immunostimulatory biological activity. The IL-1 beta gene was cloned using a novel mRNA preparation from activated human blood monocytes. The purification protocol consists of extraction and two chromatographic steps using the new Soloza cation exchange resin. The purified protein was characterized electrophoretically, by amino acid analysis and reverse phase chromatography. The protein migrated on SDS-PAGE with a molecular weight of 18.200 but demonstrated the minor presence of aggregates (dimers and trimers). Specific activity of purified rIL-1 beta in comitogenic assay on mouse thymocytes was 10(8) U/mg protein. rIL-1 beta increased in a dose dependent manner proliferation of Con A-stimulated murine thymocytes, splenocytes, PHA-stimulated human peripheral blood lymphocytes and transformed B-cell lines. Comitogenic activity depended on the degree of lymphocyte preactivation and was similar to that of natural human IL-1 beta. rIL-1 beta enhanced IL-2 production by murine spleen cells and EL-4 cell line and IL-2 receptor expression by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. It induced PGE2 release from human blood monocytes but had no effect on human neutrophil chemotaxis, phagocytosis and respiratory burst.     

Homocarnosine content and homocarnosine-carnosine synthetase activity in brain areas of hyperoxic rats

The homocarnosine content and homocarnosine synthetase activity were studied in the brain of rats in normal state and under hyperoxia. The homocarnosine content is higher in phylogenetically old brain areas as compared with that in the cerebral hemispheres. Its nonuniform distribution in the brain is associated with different activity of homocarnosine-carnosine synthetase in the corresponding brain areas. At the preconvulsive stage of oxygen poisoning the homocarnosine content in all the brain areas does not change, the homocarnosine-carnosine synthetase activity is 32% lower. At the convulsive stage of hyperoxia the homocarnosine amount in the cerebral hemisphere decreases by 33%, in the midbrain and diencephalon -- by 70, in the medulla oblongata -- by 60, in the cerebellum -- by 58%. The decrease in the homocarnosine content correlates with that in the activity of homocarnosine-carnosine synthetase in the corresponding brain areas; in the cerebral hemispheres -- by 33%, in the midbrain and diencephalon -- by 50, in the medulla oblongata -- by 49, in the cerebellum -- by 40%.     

Nonrandom distribution of goblet cells around the circumference of colonie crypt

The ascending colon of the guinea pig was cut serially and stained with the periodic-acid-Schiff-hematoxylin method. Maps of transversely sectioned crypts were prepared using a microscopic eye-piece projector. The number and angular positions of goblet cells were mapped around the circumference of transverse sections of the crypt. A method of the "statistics of the circumference" was introduced in order to assess the pattern of distribution of goblet cells. This distribution was found to be significantly nonrandom. The nonrandomness is such that the goblet cells tend to occupy positions of the crypt circumference in maximal distances from each other.