A MELTING POINT FOR THE BIREFRINGENT COMPONENT OF MUSCLE

The A filament of the striated muscle sarcomere is an ordered aggregate of one or a few species of proteins. Ordering of these filaments into a parallel array is the basis of birefringence in the A region, and loss of birefringence is therefore a measure of decreased order. Heating caused a large decrease in the birefringence of glycerinated rabbit psoas muscle fibers over a narrow temperature range (~3°C) and a large decrease in both the birefringence and optical density of the A region of Drosophila melanogaster fibrils. These changes were interpreted as a loss of A filament structure and were used to define a transition temperature (T_tr) as a measure of the stability of the A region. Since the transition temperature was sensitive to pH, ionic strength, and urea, solvent conditions which often affect protein structure, it is an experimentally useful indicator for factors affecting the structure of the A filament. Fibers from glycerinated frog muscle were less stable over a wide pH range than fibers from glycerinated rabbit muscle, a fact which demonstrates a species difference in structure. Glycerinated rabbit fibrils heated to 70°C shortened to about 40% of their initial length. The extent of shortening was not correlated with the loss of birefringence, and phase-contrast microscopy showed that this shortening occurred in the I region as well as in the A region. This response may be useful for studying the I filament and actin in much the same way that the decrease in birefringence was used for studying the A filament and myosin. The observations presented show that some properties of muscle proteins can be studied essentially in situ without the necessity of first dispersing the structure in solutions of high or low ionic strength.     

CHARACTERIZATION OF AN α-BUNGAROTOXIN BINDING COMPONENT FROM DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Abstract— We describe an α-bungarotoxin binding component from Dromphila melanoyaster that has the properties expected of an acetylcholine receptor. Toxin binding to a paniculate form of this component has been shown to be proportional to amount of extract, to be saturable and to be destroyed by heat. Localization studies using ¹²⁵I-α-bungarotoxin binding to frozen sections has shown toxin binding to be restricted to synaptic areas of the Drosophila CNS. We have also shown that this toxinbinding component can be treated with Triton X-100 without significantly altering its toxin-binding and pharmacological specificity. The ability of preincubation with cholinergic ligands to block labeled α-bungarotoxin binding to both particulate and detergent treated extracts has been studied. The nicotinic agents nicotine, d-tubocurarine, and acetylcholine are the most effective blocking agents. All of the muscarinic agents tested and the nicotinic agent decamethonium were less effective than acetylcholine in preventing α-bungarotoxin binding.     

THE ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE OF MUSCLE DURING THE ACTION OF NARCOTICS AND OTHER AGENTS

1. The effect of certain inorganic cations upon the electrical impedance of the sartorius muscle of the frog was investigated. While Na, K, and Mg have little effect upon the resistance of muscle, Ba and Ca cause it to fall. The use of physiologically "unbalanced" salt solution does not in itself seem to affect muscle impedance. 2. The time course of the effect upon muscle impedance of the penetration of substances into the intercellular spaces was studied by treating the muscle with sugar solutions. Half of the effect is over in three-quarters of a minute when the sugar solution is permitted to circulate past both sides of the muscle. This sets an upper limit for the time necessary for inorganic cations and organic narcotics to reach the cell surfaces. The action of inorganic cations and organic narcotics upon muscle is slow compared to the time necessary for them to reach the scene of action. The penetration of the sugar solutions into the intercellular spaces of muscle was found to follow the well known diffusion law, the amount diffusing in being proportional to the square root of the time. Average values of 77.7 per cent for ρ, the volume concentration of fibers; 231 ohms specific resistance for r ₂, the resistance of the interior of the fibers; and 71.0° for θ, the phase angle of the impedance locus, were obtained for the muscle in Ringer''s solution. How these values change when the muscle is placed in various concentrations of sugar was also studied. 3. The action of a number of organic narcotics upon muscle was studied. All decrease 1000 cycle resistance if the concentration is sufficiently high. A detailed analysis of the action of the narcotic, iso-amyl carbamate, was made, and it was noted that low concentrations increase resistance while higher concentrations decrease it. By investigating the effect of narcotics upon muscle impedance over a wide frequency range, it was found that during narcosis the resistance of the fiber membranes first increases and then decreases, and, if the drug is present in sufficiently great concentration, membrane resistance may completely disappear. Membrane capacity is only very slightly affected.     

MYELIN PROTEINS FROM DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

—The protein composition of myelin prepared from specific anatomical regions of the bovine brain and spinal cord was studied by a modification of the method of Gonzalez -Sastre (1970). Spinal cord myelin contained lesser amounts of chloroform-methanol soluble protein and proteolipid protein and had a lower activity of the enzyme 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphohydrolase than did myelin from subcortical white matter. There was no difference, however, in the protein composition of myelin from the various levels of the spinal cord. The amino acid composition of both proteolipid and basic protein showed no significant regional differences. Myelin preparations from both brain and spinal cord contained DM-20 protein.     

大鼠肥厚心肌缩短速度和肌凝蛋白重链同功酶谱的变化

用聚丙烯酰胺电泳分离并测定了大鼠左室肌凝蛋白ＡＴＰ酶活性依次降低的同功酶Ｖ_１,Ｖ_２和Ｖ_３的百分比（ＭＩ谱）,从乳头肌力－速度曲线读取心肌最大缩短速度（Ｖ_（ｍａｘ））,观察到：（１）正常大鼠出现增龄性Ｖ_１向Ｖ_３迁移和Ｖ_（ｍａｘ）下降,与８周龄组（Ｓ_０）相比,１６周和２４周龄组（Ｓ_８和Ｓ_（１６））的Ｖ_１／Ｖ_３比,分别下降３８．９％和６１．０％;Ｖ_（ｍａｘ）下降８．３％和１３．３％。（２）高血压肥厚心肌ＭＩ谱的迁移和Ｖ_（ｍａｘ）下降的程度大大超过增龄效应：高血压８周和１６周组（Ｈ_８和Ｈ_（１６））的Ｖ_１／Ｖ_３比值较术前对照Ｓ_０分别下降８４．４％和９３．５％,较同龄假手术对照Ｓ_８和Ｓ_（１６）组也分别低７４．５％和８３．３％,而Ｖ_（ｍａｘ）则比Ｓ_０组下降３３．３％和４８．３％。（３）６组４８只大鼠结果相关分析表明,Ｖ_（ｍａｘ）与Ｖ_１％高度正相关,与Ｖ_３％高度负相关。（Ｐ均小于０．０１）。上述结果提示：高血压肥厚心肌收缩速度明显下降,其主要生化机制似与同功酶谱由Ｖ_１优势向Ｖ_３迁移有关。     

中国及毗邻地区胖鳖甲属分类研究(鞘翅目,拟步甲科)

对中国及其毗邻地区的胖鳖甲属Syachis Bates,1879进行了分类研究,描述1新种,即西藏胖鳖甲S.xizanganasp.nov.,提供了已知种目录及其检索表.所有研究标本和新种模式标本保存于河北大学博物馆.新种与分布喀喇昆仑山的S cugiae Gridelli,1934在外形上近似,两者的主要区别是:前者前胸背板侧缘弱弧形弯曲,侧缘有皱纹状刻点;额两侧平坦.后者前胸背板两侧强烈弯曲,侧缘附近有细刻点;额两侧有短纵脊.     

THE ESCAPE OF HEMOGLOBIN FROM THE RED CELL DURING HEMOLYSIS

By means of measurements from cinematograph films of the time taken for human red cells to lose hemoglobin while hemolyzing, it is shown that small concentrations of saponin bring about a relatively small permeability of the cell membrane to the pigment, whereas large concentrations so destroy the membrane that the theoretical time for loss of pigment through a completely permeable membrane (0.16 second) is very nearly attained. These results are in agreement with those obtained from electrical measurements, and the dependence of permeability on lysin concentration can be explained on the basis of what is known about the rate of transformation of lysin as it reacts with the cell envelope. When cells are hemolyzed by hypotonic solutions, on the other hand, the permeability of the membrane to pigment is nearly constant, irrespective of the tonicity used to bring about lysis.     

MASS PREPARATION OF NUCLEI FROM THE LARVAL SALIVARY GLANDS OF DROSOPHILA HYDEI

A method has been developed for isolating gram quantities of salivary glands from late third instar larvae of Drosophila hydei. The isolated glands have a normal appearance and incorporate RNA and DNA precursors normally. Nuclei can be isolated from these glands in 90% yield with the use of detergents. These nuclei contain morphologically normal giant polytene chromosomes.     

大麦醇溶蛋白中高赖氨酸组分的溶解特性研究

脱脂的大麦粉经2次 NaCl 溶液和一次重蒸馏水提取盐溶和水溶蛋白后,用55％异丙醇提取醇溶蛋白。经 Sephadex G-100柱层析,用0.2％SDS 洗脱,得到的分子量为14000-20000道尔顿的峰2蛋白,称为大麦醇溶蛋白 A,其赖氨酸含量达2.6mol/100mol,溶解性试验结果表明这组含赖氨酸较高的蛋白确是一组醇溶性蛋白。     

我国东喜马拉雅及其邻区牛肝菌目的研究(续)

6.假牛肝菌属 Boletinus kalchbrenner,Bot.Zeit.25:181.1867. 本属与多种树种有菌根关系:如Pinus,Larix,Abies和Pseudotsuga,但在Larix林下,本菌往往与土壤中的鞣料相聚集,对周围某些植物根系不利。本属现知15种,本区6种。