A model for sieving of macromolecules by the glomerular membrane of the kidney.

The transport of water and of macromolecules across the glomerular membrane of the kidney depends on the membrane parameters (radius, length and number of pores) as well as on the hydrostatic and oncotic pressures on either side of the membrane. The filtration pressure decreases along the capillary loops from afferent to efferent end. Water and solute flows are thus given by a system of two differential equations. The sieving coefficient of the macromolecules is the ratio of solute to water flow. In the program described the differential equations are solved by the Runge-Kutta method (fourth order). Rosenbrock's method of minimization is used to adjust the theoretical to the experimental sieving coefficients. The pore radius, total pore area per unit of path length and conductance of the membrane, as well as the intracapillary hydrostatic pressure and its gradient can thus be determined.     

Random-coil chemical shifts of phosphorylated amino acids

The ¹H, ¹³C, ¹⁵N and ³¹ P random-coil chemical shifts and phosphate pK_a values of the phosphorylated amino acids pSer, pThr and pTyr in the protected peptide Ac-Gly-Gly-X-Gly-Gly-NH₂ have been obtained in water at 25°C over the pH range 2 to 9. Analysis of ROESY spectra indicates that the peptides are unstructured. Phosphorylation induces changes in random-coil chemical shifts, some of which are comparable to those caused by secondary structure formation, and are therefore significant in structural analyses based on the chemical shift.     

Handling of human pepsinogens by the isolated rat kidney: evidence for a high glomerular sieving coefficient

Pepsinogen A (PGA) and pepsinogen C (PGC) are low-molecular-weight proteins synthesized by the gastric mucosa. Data in man suggest that both pepsinogens are almost freely filtered through the glomerular basement membrane despite a molecular weight of about 43,000 dalton and a strongly negative charge. This promoted us to investigate the glomerular sieving of PGA and PGC in the isolated rat kidney model by measuring their fractional excretions before and after inhibition of tubular function with sodium iodoacetate. During the control episode fractional excretion of PGA was 40 +/- 0.04% and of PGC 42 +/- 0.04% (mean +/- SEM from 9 experiments). After complete inhibition of tubular function a large increase in fractional excretion was found for both pepsinogens: 87 +/- 0.04% for PGA and 95 +/- 0.09% for PGC. It is concluded that tubular secretion does not contribute to the high fractional excretion of pepsinogens and that both PGA and PGC are almost freely filtered through the glomerular basement membrane.     

Demonstration of 2 distinct glomerular populations by a sieving technic in the kidney cortex of the pig

Amelioration of sieving technics for glomeruli isolation aims at obtention of purer and more homogeneous preparations, presenting a high preservation degree for glomerular functional studies. We have recently demonstrated the necessity to use sieves adapted to the glomeruli size of different considered animals as well as to use kidneys having exactly the same weight in order to obtain very homogeneous glomeruli suspensions. This study presents a new amelioration in the homogeneity of the glomeruli diameter through a preliminary dissection of the renal cortex in order to isolate glomeruli situated in the same particular cortical zone. Pig renal cortex, because of its size, agrees well with a fine dissection in order to dissociate the superficial and the juxta-medullary zones. Glomeruli are isolated with 160/120 micro mesh sieves. Diameter mean value is 218.8 +/- 30.1 micro in superficial glomeruli and 270.4 +/- 30.1 micro in juxta-medullary ones, highly significant difference, (p less than 0.001). Moreover, repartition frequency histograms of the juxta-medullary glomerular populations diameter presents a large shifting to higher values. This renal dissection preceding the glomeruli isolation sieving technique contributes to better the homogeneity of the isolated glomeruli suspensions and opens the way to the original study of the comparative in vitro vasoreactivity of these two different glomerular populations after incubation with physiological or pharmacological reagents.     

A model of random fiber networks that describes the sieving of particles during gel electrophoresis.

A model is presented to describe the sieving of particles during gel electrophoresis by considering the movement of a spherical particle through a random network of straight, rigid fibers. The movement of the particle through the network is approximated by a discrete model of the network composed of parallel planes containing fibers through which the particle must pass. Unlike previous models this model does not assume that the rate of movement is proportional to the proportion of cross-sectional area available to the particle. The results provide a new justification for approximately linear Ferguson plots and suggest that for large particles, Ferguson plots may become nonlinear.     

人巨细胞病毒特异性免疫球蛋白原料血浆的筛选

用北京贝尔公司的人巨细胞病毒(HCMV)IgG检测试剂盒检测5~6月入库的武汉生物制品研究所(WIBP)下属四个浆站共7433份普通血浆,HCMV-IgG阳性率为36%~55%。建立内部参考品Pc1、Pc2、Pc3、Pc4,用德国赛润公司的HCMV-IgG定量检测试剂盒对内部参考品进行标定,效价分别为648、962、1757、2940PEI-U/ml。以A450值>Pc1为标准确定HCMV-IgG阳性的献血员名单,按照检疫期的要求,利用浆站管理系统软件查找献血员前3个月的血浆编号,统计建档。逐批检测符合检疫期的建档血浆,以A450值>Pc2为标准收集阳性血浆,以A450值>Pc3为标准投料,进行人巨细胞免疫球蛋白(HCMV-IG)的低温乙醇纯化。通过成品的中和试验结果决定收浆方案是否可行。     

Permselectivity of the glomerular capillary wall to macromolecules. II. Experimental studies in rats using neutral dextran.

To determine the permselectivity characteristics of the glomerular capillary wall, known molecular size fractions of [3H]dextran, prepared by gel chromatography, were infused into normally hydrated Wistar rats, thus permitting simultaneous measurement of Bowman's space/plasma water (BS/P) and urine/plasma water (U/P) concentration ratios, along with glomerular pressures and flows. Since (BS/P)inulin = 1.01 +/- 0.01 SE(n = 34, radius = approximately 14 A) and since (BS/P)dextran/(BS/P)inulin equaled (U/P)dextran/(U/P)inulin for dextrans ranging in molecular radius from 21 to 35 A, these findings validate that dextrans are neither secreted nor reabsorbed. For dextran radii of 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, and 44 A, (U/P)dextran/(U/P)inulin averaged 0.99, 0.92, 0.69, 0.42, 0.19, 0.06, and 0.01, respectively. In accord with theoretical predictions that these fractional dextran clearances should vary appreciably with changes in glomerular transcapillary pressures and flows, an increase in glomerular plasma flow rate, induced in these same rats by plasma volume expansion, resulted in a highly significant lowering of fractional clearance of all but the smallest and largest dextrans studied. These findings emphasize that fractional solute clearances alone are inadequate to describe the permselective properties of the glomerular capillary wall unless glomerular pressures and flows are also known. This sensitivity of fractional dextran clearance to changes in plasma flow indicates that dextrans are transported across the capillary not only by bulk flow but also to an important extent by diffusion.     

The sieving of rod-shaped viruses during agarose gel electrophoresis. I. Comparison with the sieving of spheres

The sieving of rod-shaped viruses during agarose gel electrophoresis is quantitatively analyzed here with a previously proposed model [G. A. Griess et al. (1989) Biopolymers, 28, 1475-1484] that has one radius (PE) of the effective pore at each concentration of gel. By use of this model and an internal spherical size standard, a plot of electrophoretic mobility vs agarose percentage is converted to a plot of the radius of the effective sphere (effective radius) vs PE. Experimentally, when the concentration of the rod-shaped bacteriophage, fd, is progressively increased, eventually the electrophoretic mobility of fd becomes dependent on its concentration. The concentration of fd at which this occurs decreases as the agarose concentration decreases. After avoiding this dependence on the concentration of sample, the effective radius of rod-shaped particles, including bacteriophage fd, length variants of fd, and length variants of tobacco mosaic virus, is found to increase as PE increases until a plateau of approximately constant maximum effective radius is reached at PcE. In the region of this plateau, the effective sphere's measure that best approximates that of the rod is surface area. However, significant disagreement with the data exists for surface area; the maximum effective radius for fd varies as (length)0.69. For fd and its length variants, the value of 2.PcE/length increases from 0.21 to 0.86 as the length decreases from 2808 to 367 nm. The dependence of effective radius on PE and the proximity of 2.PcE to the length of the rod are explained by (a) random orientation of rods at PE values in the region of the plateau, and (b) increasingly preferential end-first orientation (reptation) of the rod as PE decreases below PcE. This hypothesis of reptation is supported by a significant dependence of electrophoretic mobility on electrical potential gradient for a PE below, but not above, PcE. The dependence of 2.PcE/length on length is not rigorously understood, but is qualitatively explained by flexibility of the rods. This apparent flexibility has thus far prevented determination of a rod's axial ratio from quantitation of sieving during agarose gel electrophoresis. The electrical potential dependence of electrophoretic mobility is determined here by a procedure of two-dimensional agarose gel electrophoresis. This procedure is also useful for detecting rod-shaped particles in heterogeneous mixtures of predominantly spherical particles.     

The glomerular mesangium: a comparative study of mesangial handling of iron dextran complex and endogenous IgG in mice and rats

The function and channel system of the glomerular mesangium in mice and rats was investigated by studying the uptake and transport of intravenously injected iron-dextran particles, and the localization of endogenous IgG. Animals were killed at 30 min, 8 h, 1 and 3 days and 1 and 2 weeks after intravenous injection of iron dextran complex. It was found that the tracer was present maximally in the mesangium of the mouse at one day after injection whereas a maximum was not reached until the third day in the rat. Maximal levels of tracer particles in the extra-glomerular lacis area were found at three days in the mouse and at 2 weeks in the rat. Disappearance of the tracer from the blood as indicated by the measured serum iron levels did not seem to differ significantly in the two species. Using an ultrastructural immunoperoxidase technique, considerable amount of endogenous IgG were localized in the mesangial channel system in the stalk region and in the extraglomerular lacis area of mice, whereas in rats only very scanty endogenous IgG was present in these locations. It is suggested that the difference in mesangial handling of macromolecular material in mice and rats is more likely to be due to a different rate of transport through the mesangial channel system than to primary differences in mesangial phagocytotic activity.     

Estimation of antibodies specific for dextran.

Methods are described for the isolation and characterization of picogram quantities of anti-dextran antibodies. 14C-dextrans produced by using the dextransucrases of Leuconostoc mesenteroides strains B1355 and B512 were used in a radioimmunoassay. The specificity of this assay was verified by using cell cytoplasmic lysates from mouse plasmacytomas, J558 (anti-alpha 1 leads to 3 dextran) and W3129 (anti-alpha 1 leads to 6 dextran). Dextran produced by strain B1355 and insolubilized with epichlorohydrin was used as an immunoabsorbent.     

Molecular sieving characteristics of the cultured endothelial monolayer

We examined the selectivity of the bovine pulmonary artery endothelial monolayer in vitro to molecules of different sizes. The cultured bovine pulmonary endothelial monolayer was grown on a gelatinized filter and the transendothelial transport was studied by determining the permeability of molecules ranging from 182 to 340,000 daltons under diffusion conditions. The permeabilities across the cultured bovine endothelium were modeled according to cylindrical pore theory. The data were best fit by a two-pore model with radii 65 A and 304 A and a ratio of small to large pores of 160:1. The results indicate that the cultured endothelial monolayer is a selective barrier to molecules of different sizes and that the molecular selectivity is consistent with a diffusional pathway through endothelial pore equivalents. The cultured endothelial monolayer is a useful system for studying the permeability characteristics of the endothelial barrier.     

Live sieving of freshwater zooplankton: a technique for monitoring community size structure

A simple method is described for a quick determination of thesize structure of zooplankton communities. This is based onsieving of a live sample, using one or two sieves of known meshsize, and determining the dry weight of the size fractions.Size separation by live sieving is validated statistically onDaphnia galeata, a common planktonic cladoceran, by comparingsize-sieved fractions against direct microscopic measurementsof individuals. A non-linear model was used for assessment ofsieving statistics. The sieving technique facilitates the gatheringof size-structured biomass data for zooplankton for routinemonitoring or long-term studies.     

Recombinant collagen for animal product-free dextran microcarriers

Manufacturers of vaccines and other biologicals are under increasing pressure from regulatory agencies to develop production methods that are completely animal-component-free. In order to comply with this demand, alternative cell culture substrates to those now on the market, primarily collagen or gelatin, must be found. In this paper, we have tested a number of possible substitutes including recombinant collagen, a 100-kDa recombinant gelatin fragment and a peptide derived from a cell-binding region of type I collagen. The small 15-amino acid peptide did not support attachment of human fibroblasts in monolayer culture. The 100-kDa gelatin fragment supported cell attachment in monolayer culture, but was significantly less active than intact porcine gelatin. Recombinant type I collagen was as successful in promoting cell attachment as native collagen, and both were more effective than porcine gelatin. Based on these data, dextran microspheres were treated with the same attachment proteins—porcine gelatin, native collagen, or recombinant collagen. The same trends were observed as in monolayer culture. Concentrations of the recombinant collagen (as well as native collagen) supported cell attachment on dextran microspheres at concentrations as low as 0.01 μg/cm². Treatment of the dextran with a low level of polyethylenimine, a cationic moiety, further enhanced attachment when used in conjunction with the low concentration of recombinant collagen. Where there was increased cell attachment, increased proliferation followed. We are confident, based on these findings, that a fully recombinant substitute could replace gelatin in current microcarrier preparations without losing the cell growth benefits provided by the native protein.