C.P.S.—Its Strengths and Weaknesses

The following, a supplement to the annual report of the Board of Trustees of California Physicians'' Service that was published in the March 1961 issue of California Medicine, was delivered at the 1961 Annual Session of the House of Delegates by Dr. John G. Morrison, chairman of the board.     

Letter to the Editor: Efficacy and safety of anti-Trop antibodies,R. Cubas,M. Li,C. Chen and Q. Yao,Biochim Biophys Acta 1796 (2009) 309–1

Still little information is available on the efficacy and toxicity of anti-Trop-2 antibodies in man. Findings on antibodies anti-Trop-1/Ep-CAM, a paralog molecule of Trop-2, may provide preliminary indications, and a low-affinity anti-Trop-1/Ep-CAM monoclonal antibody, failed to show any benefit in colon cancer patients. Other anti-Trop-1 antibodies, e.g. MT201, may bear more promise, as may more advanced molecular forms, e.g. a BiTE design (MT110) or trifunctional antibodies (catumaxomab). However, the efficacy of these reagents in cancer patients still needs to be proven in randomized clinical trials.     

A Review of: “Biological Recognition and Assembly,D. S. Eisenberg,J. A. Lake and C. F. Fox,Eds. Alan R. Liss,New York, 1980; hardbound, 355 pages, $52.00”

Two MMP-7-ase isoenzymes were purified 100-fold from rat muscle extract to apparent homogeneity, with an overall yield of 10%, using homogenization, ultracentrifugation, high-performance aqueous size-exclusion and high-performance anion exchange chromatography methods. When using a TSK G-2000SW column, the separation resulted in a 6-fold purification and 30% recovery of isoenzymes B and C. This concentrated enzyme extract was then passed through a TSK-DEAE-2SW column, using salt gradient at pH 7.5, with an additional 25-fold purification and 90% recovery of the isoenzymes. Two symmetrical enzyme peaks, representing isoenzymes B and C, were detected when performing purity tests of the active enzymes on the anion exchanger and reversed-phase HFLC columns. The procedures involved are extraction, ultracentri-fugation, chromatographies and enzyme assays and require less than five hours.     

Interspecific Transition Among Caragana microphylla,C. davazamcii and C. korshinskii Along Geographic Gradient. Ⅰ. Ecological and RAPD Evidence

The former plant population survey has shown that three genetically-related species, Caragana microphylla Lam., C. davazamcii Sancz. and C. korshinskii Kom., form a geographical replacement series in Nei Mongol Plateau. The present study on population distribution, taxonomy, morphology, development and genetic structure demonstrated that the geographical distribution of these three species was successive and in gradual change, thus forming a geographical cline which extended from the east to the west of Nei Mongol Plateau. With an analysis of climate change over time, it was considered that the formation of this geographical cline was a result of plant adaptation to its natural environment.     

Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne C.N.R.S., Marsielle, France.

Summary Mutants of E. coli, completely devoid of nitrite reductase activity with glucose or formate as donor were studied. Biochemical analysis indicates that they are simultaneously affected in nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, fumarate reductase and hydrogenase activities as well as in cytochrome c₅₅₂ biosynthesis. The use of an antiserum specific for nitrate reductase shows that the nitrate reductase protein is probably missing. A single mutation is responsible for this phenotype: the gene affected, nir R, is located close to tyr R i.e. at 29 min on the chromosomal map.Abbreviations BV Benzyl-Viologen - NTG N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine - NR nitrate reductase - NIR nitrite reductase - FR fumarate reductase - HYD hydrogenase - CYT c₅₅₂ cytochrome c₅₅₂