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.     

Marker-Dependent Recombination in T4 Bacteriophage. II. the Evaluation of Mismatch Repairabilities in Crosses within Indicator Distances

The contribution of mismatch repair to genetic recombination in T4 phage has been evaluated by three independent approaches: (1) testing for non-additivity of recombinant frequencies; (2) measurements of double exchange frequencies in three-factor crosses: (3) comparisons of recombination abilities of mutations occupying the same site. Quantitative agreement among the results of these approaches suggests that within distances much less than the mean length of hybrid regions, mismatch repair accounts perfectly for high negative interference as measured in three-factor crosses and as manifested by non-additivity in two-factor crosses. The mismatch repair mechanism readily recognizes only particular mismatches, the repair frequency being dependent on the base sequence in both strands of the mismatched region.     

Continuous-flow NMR culture system for mammalian cells

A continuous-flow NMR culture system for mammalian cells has been developed on which ³¹P-NMR experiments under complete and strictly physiologic conditions have been performed. Observations on the response of the cellular metabolism to stresses such as starvation, low temperature and changes in environmental pH monitored by ³¹P-NMR are reported. The response of the intracellular pH relative to the external pH of the growth medium is studied. We find that under the experimental conditions used there exists a ΔpH varying between less than 0.2 and more than 0.6 pH units. These results are compatible with those obtained using other techniques.     

Phosphorylation of smooth muscle caldesmon by three protein kinases: implication for domain mapping

Phosphorylation of duck gizzard caldesmon by Ca2+/phospholipid-dependent protein kinase, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase and casein kinase II has been investigated. The Ca2+/phospholipid-dependent protein kinase incorporates more than 3 mol phosphate per mol (140 kDa) caldesmon. All phosphorylation sites are localized in the actin- and calmodulin-binding peptide (40-45 kDa) supposed to be a part of the C-terminal domain of caldesmon. Casein kinase II phosphorylates only one site located in a short (25-27 kDa) peptide, presumably in the caldesmon N-terminal domain. The Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase phosphorylates two sites located in the N- and C-terminal domains of caldesmon.     

Study of the rat parotid blood capillaries during a 3-hour feeding cycle]

Regularities attending the change in the lumen diameter and the area of the endothelial cells were studied in the capillaries of the rat parotid gland during the secretory cycle under conditions of circulatory ischemia. The mean lumen diameter and the area of endothelial cells failed to change during the secretory cycle and during the occlusion of the carotid artery. It is thus supposed that enhanced capillary blood flow during the discharge of saliva could be explained by the growing number of the functioning capillaries.     

Reaction of specific cell populations of hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei of the rat to carbohydrate loading and fasting

The structural correlates of the cell responses in subnuclei of the hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei (PVN) in fasting and carbohydrate loaded adult male rats were studied using light microscopic morphometric methods. The data obtained revealed difference in responsiveness of the subnuclei studied to alternative shifts in the carbohydrate homeostasis: histophysiological features in five of ten cell-divisions, distinguished in the rat RVN, demonstrated their dependence on impaired carbohydrate homeostasis.     

In vitro generation of tumour-specific lymphocyte reactivity to colonic carcinoma cells

Summary Purified tumour cells and normal mucosa cells from fresh human colorectal cancer resection specimens, and T-cell-enriched autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes, were mixed in short-term (6 day) mixed lymphocytetumour cell (MLTC) microcultures. Lymphocyte stimulation was measured by ³H-thymidine uptake, and a stimulation index (SI=[lymphocytes vs tumour cells (cpm)–tumour cells (cpm)]/[lymphocytes (cpm)])>3 was regarded as significant. Significant lymphocyte reactivity was found in 10/15 patients with colon carcinoma. However, 1 patient with autologous tumour reactivity, also showed significant stimulation against autologous normal mucosa cells, suggesting tumour-associated reactivity. Maximum stimulation occurred most frequently at a lymphocyte:tumour cell ratio of 2:1 and with nylon wool-passaged lymphocytes.Project was supported by a grant from the Cancer Research CampaignSupported by New South Wales Cancer Council Fellowship     

A new species of Schrankia Hübner, 1825 from China (Lepidoptera,Erebidae, Hypenodinae)

A new species of the genus Schrankia Hübner, 1825, S. pelicano sp. n. is described from Sichuan, China. A diagnostic comparison is made with Schrankia taenialis (Hübner, [1809]) and Schrankia separatalis (Herz, 1904); illustrations of the male holotype and its genitalia are provided. A checklist of the genus with synonyms is given.