Significance of scrotal afferents within the general thermoafferent system

• 1.1.|Switching neurons, in the past referred to as a special scrotal afferent system, intergrate information not only from the scrotum, but from various body areas.
• 2.2.|They are present in male and female rats, as well as in guinea-pigs.
• 3.3.|They are present in midbrain, thalamus, hypothalamus and cortical areas.
• 4.4.|Information processing from the scrotum, is not a special system, but part of the general thermo-and noci-afferent system.
• 5.5.|Switching neurons seem to interact with behavioral, perhaps with autonomic thermoregulatory mechanisms, too.

     

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Oxygen consumption,body temperature and heart rate in the coati (Nasua nasua)

• 1.1. Coatis are chiefly diurnal, showing marked nycthemeral variations of body temperature and oxygen uptake.
• 2.2. The thermoneutral zone extends from 25–33°C; the basal metabolic rate is about 40% below the value predicted from body mass.
• 3.3. Thermoregulation in cold is excellent, partly due to decreasing thermal conductance at falling ambient temperatures.
• 4.4. Exposure to temperatures above 35°C is endured for only short periods.
• 5.5. Basal heart rate is reduced to about 70% of the predicted level. The contribution of heart rate to increased oxygen demands at falling ambient temperatures is rather low.
• 6.6. The measured physiological characteristics of coatis are discussed with regard to the high mobility and the wide distribution range of these procyonids.

     

The characterization of the linoleic acid desaturation and elongation system in ovine placental tissue

• 1.1. The desaturation and elongation of linoleic acid has been studied in homogenates and in subfractions of ovine placental tissue.
• 2.2. The reaction was characterized in terms of pH and temperature optima, time course and protein concentration.
• 3.3. Activity was found to be confined to the 11,000g supernatant fraction of the tissue and the results suggest that the enzymes are membrane bound.
• 4.4. The cytosolic fraction and ATP were required for full activity and the reaction was inhibited by cyanide.
• 5.5. The properties of the reaction are compared with those of other desaturation systems and their implications with regard to possible reaction mechanisms are discussed.

     

Monoclonal antibodies for radioimmunoscintigraphy of breast cancer

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among females, and it is estimated that each year, one in ten American women will be newly diagnosed as having the disease. It is therefore not surprising, that a great deal of effort has been made to better understand the biology of breast cancer, and that investigators keep up the search for new tools to better characterize, diagnose and treat these tumours. In this regard, the introduction of the hybridoma technique in 1975 by Kohler and Milstein has lead to an extensive work in the characterization of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against breast cancers. A large number of antibodies has been raised to different epitopes present in normal and neoplastic breast tissue; but unfortunately we have yet to find a highly sensitive and specific monoclonal antibody for breast cancer that can successfully be used for scintigraphic detection of nodal metastases and for radioimmunotherapy treatment of this disease.As possible radioimmunodiagnostics, antibodies are known which react with the following antigens:

• 1.(1) cytoskeletal proteins
• 2.(2) breast cell products
• 3.(3) steroid receptors
• 4.(4) putative tumor-associated antigens
• 5.(5) oncogene products
• 6.(6) pregnancy-related products
• 7.(7) basement membrane antigens
• 8.(8) degradative enzymes
• 9.(9) cell receptors for extracellular matrix molecules
• 10.(10) multidrug resistance gene product (p-glycoprotein)
• 11.(11) proliferative markers.

     

Myofibril and sarcoplasmic reticulum changes during muscle development: Activity vs inactivity

• 1.1. The purpose of this study was to determine whether biochemical changes of skeletal muscle that occur as a result of exercise in young rats persist into adulthood.
• 2.2. Littermates (10 days old) were assigned to a 3, 6 and 12 week control or training group. In addition, a rest-exercise group (R-E) and exercise-rest (E-R) group were included.
• 3.3. The rest-exercise and exercise-rest rats were maintained for the 12 weeks with the first 6 weeks being either rest or exercise and the condition reversed during the last 6 weeks of the experiment.
• 4.4. Myofibril ATPase activity of rat plantaris increased from the 10d to 12 week animals (P < 0.05). As anticipated, training resulted in a lowered activity at 6 and 12 weeks compared to controls.
• 5.5. The Ca²⁺ uptake and Ca²⁺-ATPase activity of the sarcoplasmic reticulum followed a similar pattern.
• 6.6. With regard to the exercise-rest rats, the myofibril and SR ATPase activities at 12 weeks were comparable to the 12 weeks control rats.
• 7.7. The rest-exercise group approximated the 12 week training group with regard to myofibril and SR ATPase activities (P > 0.05).
• 8.8. The results suggest that the training adaptations that occur during development of skeletal muscle return to normal, when training ceases in the adult rat.
• 9.9. Furthermore, animals that started to train prior to puberty do not have a greater capacity to adapt than animals which initiated training during adulthood.

     

Programmed loss of flight ability in the early adult life of the blowfly Phormia terrae novae as a possible mechanism of intraspecific niche building with respect to the duration of life

• 1.1. The age related flight performance of males and females of the blowfly Phormia terrae novae was studied and the influence of artificially fed glucose determined.
• 2.2. Maximum flight ability—measured as flight distance, duration and initial velocity—was achieved during the first week after emergence, thereafter the flight performance drops precipitously between the 12th and 17th day of adult life.
• 3.3. Males and females, fed and unfed individuals, show no difference in their time course of flight ability.
• 4.4. The possible causes of the programmed loss of flight performance were discussed with regard to histological and enzyme activity changes observed at the same and other species.
• 5.5. The biological significance of this physiological age effect was revealed.

     

Breast,hips, and buttocks revisited: Honest fatness for honest fitness

This paper comments on: Low, B. S., Alexander, R. D., and Noonan, K.M. Human hips, breast, and buttocks: Is fat deceptive? Ethology and Sociobiology 8: 249-247, 1987. In it I argue that:

• 1.1. Sexual selection has probably not been the most important selection pressure on
• 2.female human body shape.
• 3.2. Male humans in different cultures find different aspects of the female body attractive
• 4.and therefore are unlikely to have exerted consistent directional sexual selection on
• 5.the female body.
• 6.3. Breast size is not correlated with lactation success.
• 7.4. Visible hip width is not correlated with parturition success.
• 8.5. Women would lower their fitness if they tried to deceive men about their internal
• 9.pelvic dimensions.
• 10.6. There are many alternative hypothesis to explain the existence of fat onwomen's
• 11.breast, hips, and buttocks.

     

The influence of environmental and incubation temperature on fatty acid synthetase from flounder (Platichthys flesus L.) liver

• 1.1. Fatty acid synthetase from liver of cold and warm adapted flounder and rabbit was purified to homogenity and compared.
• 2.2. The mol. wt of the cold and warm flounder enzyme was estimated to be about 457,000.
• 3.3. The kinetic properties were found to be similar for warm and cold adapted flounder liver enzyme and not different from the rabbit liver enzyme when measured at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 37°C.
• 4.4. Palmitic acid was the main product of both the flounder and rabbit enzyme, but significant amounts of butyric acid were also synthesized. The product composition did not change for any of the enzymes tested when the incubation temperature was changed.
• 5.5. It was concluded that fatty acid synthetase from flounder liver is similar to mammalian fatty acid synthetase with regard to molecular weight and kinetic properties.

     

Purification and characterization of hatching enzyme of the pike (Esox lucius)

• 1.1. A choriolytic enzyme was isolated from the hatching medium of the pike, Esox lucius.
• 2.2. The enzyme is defined as hatching enzyme.
• 3.3. The molecular weight of the enzyme is 24,000.
• 4.4. The enzyme is a glycoprotein containing 2% carbohydrate.
• 5.5. Its isoelectric point is 6.5.
• 6.6. The pH optimum is around pH 8.
• 7.7. The enzyme molecule contains two disulfide bonds but no free cysteine.
• 8.8. Inhibitor studies and metal analysis show that the enzyme is a zinc-metalloprotease.

     

Oral administration of insulin in winter-acclimatized carp (Cyprinus carpio) induces hepatic ultrastructural changes

• 1.1. The intestinal absorption of insulin in carps was assessed examining the transepithelial passage of ingested gold-labeled hormone by electron microscopy. Insulin transfer occurred mainly through the intercellular spaces between the enterocytes.
• 2.2. When reaching the lamina propria, the gold-labeled hormone gathered predominantly around the granules of the granular cells, and therefore can enter the circulatory system via the blood capillaries which are found in close contact with these cells.
• 3.3. Winter-acclimatized carp were also capable of internalizing the hormone when fed with insulin.
• 4.4. Furthermore, the absorbed hormone revealed full activity in regard to the observed changes in the ultrastructure of the liver cells of the treated cold-adapted fish.
• 5.5. The fish ingesting the hormone underwent the same type of hepatic ultrastructure reprogramming observed when winter-acclimatized carps are injected intraperitoneally with insulin, i.e. conversion to a phenotype corresponding to hepatocytes from summer-adapted carp.
• 6.6. The oral absorption of insulin by winter-acclimatized fish and its effect in reversing the cold-adaptive state might be useful for the fish culturing industry.

     

Cloning and characterization of rabbit pancreatic colipase

• 1.1. Among the digestive enzymes synthesized by pancreas, lipase is the principle lipolytic enzyme which hydrolyses dietary glycerides.
• 2.2. For its action it requires a coenzyme, colipase.
• 3.3. The molecular mechanisms of the interaction of these two are not fully understood.
• 4.4. Further, molecular events that regulate and influence lipid absorption are ill denned.
• 5.5. The rabbit is the conventional animal model for the study of lipid absorption. We have undertaken the molecular cloning, and characterization of rabbit pancreatic colipase, the coenzyme for pancreatic lipase.
• 6.6. Colipase has been cloned from a gt 11 library of an adult rabbit pancreatic cDNA by probing with an oligonucleotide derived from human colipase sequence.
• 7.7. The total reading frame consists of 321 nucleotides coding for 90 amino acids of the functional protein and 17 nucleotides of the leader peptide.
• 8.8. Northern blot analysis revealed a distinct band around 0.5kb. Comparison with other species revealed an over all homology of 75% at the nucleotide level.
• 9.9. At the amino acid level highest conservation is observed at the lipase-binding region (AA 53–73).
• 10.10. Rabbit enzyme also retained the N-terminal pentapeptide of it preform.
• 11.11. The regions of homology and conservation may aid to define the sites of interaction of colipase with lipase.

     

Serum chemistry profiles for Lechwe waterbucks (Kobus leche): Variations with age and sex

• 1.1. Over an 8-year period, 19 biochemical parameters have been determined at various ages in the blood serum of 92 clinically healthy Lechwe waterbucks (Kobus leche), 33 males and 59 females.
• 2.2. Significant differences have been noted with age. In neonates, the lowest values of total proteins, glucose, creatinine, urea, AST, ALT and iron have been noted; the highest ones have been seen for cholesterol, alkaline phosphatase, calcium and phosphorus.
• 3.3. With regard to sex, raised values of glucose, urea, alkaline phosphatase and ALT, and lowered values of cholesterol, have been noted in juvenile females compared with males of the same age.
• 4.4. In adult females, higher levels of urea and cholesterol and lower levels of glucose, triglycerides and natrium have been recorded compared with males.
• 5.5. With sex and age, no significant changes have been found in the levels of GGT, magnesium, chlorides and copper.
• 6.6. Out findings are discussed with those abstracted from the literature for related species.

     

Essential tyrosyl residues of human placental alkaline phosphatase

• 1.1. Human placental alkaline phosphatase was inactivated with tetranitromethane in a biphasic process.
• 2.2. Spectral and amino acid analysis demonstrated that the inactivation was due to the conversion of tyrosine residues to 3-nitrotyrosine.
• 3.3. The inactivation process showed saturation kinetics.
• 4.4. Protection of the enzyme against tetranitromethane inactivation was afforded by inorganic phosphate.
• 5.5. The binding affinity between the modified enzyme and inorganic phosphate was decreased.
• 6.6. Our results suggest the involvement of tyrosyl residues in the locus of phosphoryl site of the phosphorylated enzyme forms.

     

Domain structure of the 90-kDa stress protein: Heparin- and antibody-binding domain

• 1.1. To understand the physiological roles of the 90-kDa stress protein (HSP90), we investigated the heparin- and antibody-binding domains of the protein.
• 2.2. For heparin-binding sites, HSP90 was digested completely with trypsin, and the digests were applied to a heparin-Sepharose column and eluted with 1.0 M NaCl, followed by 8.0 M urea.
• 3.3. Each elutant was purified by a reverse-phase C₁₈ column.
• 4.4. Two peptides from the NaCl-eluted fraction and no peptide from the urea-eluted fraction were purified.
• 5.5. The purified peptides were sequenced by an automated peptide sequencer.
• 6.6. One of the heparin-binding sites was present between Leu-362 and Arg-365; another was present between Leu-645 and Lys-648.
• 7.7. These two peptides were basic and considerably hydrophilic.
• 8.8. For antibody-binding sites, HSP90 was mildly digested with trypsin, electrophoresed on SDS-polyacrylamide gels and transferred to PVDF membranes.
• 9.9. The four bound of the trypsin fragments could be sequenced with a peptide sequencer.
• 10.10. There was only one antibody-binding peptide, 38 kDa, starting from Pro-2. The others showed no cross-reactivity with the antibody and started from Leu-283.
• 11.11. Therefore, the epitopes of HSP90 are present between Pro-2 and Leu-282.
• 12.12. The heparin-binding sites are present from the middle region of the HSP90 molecule, and the antigen sites are at the N-terminal domain.

     

Comparative hematology: Studies on cats including one with factor XII (hageman) deficiency

• 1.1. Cat plasma prothrombin and partial thromboplastin times are faster than human. Thromboplastin generation tests are very similar.
• 2.2. Factors VIII and V assay 24 and 13 times the human standard. Cat factors VII, X. IX, XI and XII assayed at 2.5 to 4 times human. Factors I, II and XIII fell within the human range and Fletcher was extremely low.
• 3.3. One cat lacked factor XII and showed a prolonged APTT and clotting time.
• 4.4. Cat profibrinolysin was activated by streptokinase but not by urokinase.
• 5.5. Cat platelets aggregated with the usual human aggregation agents with the exception of thrombin and ristocetin.
• 6.6. Cat erythrocytes were smaller and more numerous than human.
• 7.7. Leukocyte counts were quite variable.
• 8.8. Serum protein electrophoretic patterns differed from human in the greater migration of albumin and the presence of numerous unidentified bands.
• 9.9. Biochemical tests showed high sodium and chloride values.

     

The binding curves in relation to protein concentration. the interaction of human serum albumin with surfactants

• 1.1. The binding curves of three surfactants (natrium dodecyl sulphate, Triton X-100 and Slovafol 909) to human serum albumin at protein concentrations of 0.01–10% were measured.
• 2.2. Contrary to other authors' findings, the results showed the courses of the binding curves to be independent of protein concentration.
• 3.3. The present values of the concentration-dependent binding curves require special accuracy in the experimental techniques.