Hairy cell leukemia associated with carcinoma: report of two patients and review of the literature

The association of carcinoma and hairy cell leukemia (HCL) in two patients is recorded. One of the cases was a 58-year-old male who developed carcinoma of the kidney, while the second patient was a 48-year-old woman with carcinoma in the breast. This rare association is probably coincidental, as it is not described in most of the larger reported series of patients with HCL. It is of interest to note that the first patient had received radiation therapy thirty years before the diagnosis of HCL and carcinoma was made.     

Inhibition of DNA Synthesis but not of Poly-dAT Synthesis by the Arabinose Analogue of Cytidine <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis>

Kimball and Wilson¹ reported that the arabinose analogue of cytidine (ara-C) inhibited DNA polymerase in a crude extract prepared from Ehrlich ascites cells. Furth and Cohen² observed cytosine arabinoside triphosphate (ara-CTP) inhibited DNA polymerase in extracts from either calf thymus or bovine lymphosarcoma tissue, although these investigators³ had already found no effect of ara-CTP on DNA polymerase from Escherichia coli. The inhibition in both of these cases could be substantially reversed by dCTP; but incorporation of the arabinose nucleotide (ara-CMP) into DNA could not be unequivocally demonstrated. Graham and Whitmore⁴ reported the incorporation of ara-C into DNA in vivo and the inhibition of a DNA polymerase from L cells by ara-CTP. They found that ara-CMP was initially incorporated into small DNA strands but subsequently appeared in long strands. Momparler⁵ has presented evidence that, in vitro, ara-C incorporation was limited to the 3′-hydroxyl end of DNA chains. Such incorporation might be expected to block further chain elongation but this expectation was not supported by the evidence presented by Graham and Whitmore.     

Endopeptidase Activity of Phage λ-Endolysin

JACOB and Fuerst^1,2 demonstrated the presence of a bacteriolytic enzyme (λ-endolysin) in the induced cultures of lysogenic Escherichia coli K12 (λ). The enzyme was later identified as the product of gene R; of phage λ³ which is involved in bacterial lysis at the end of a latent period. The enzyme is apt to form spheroplast-like structures in E. coli² and one would therefore expect its substrate to be murein.     

Pectinolytic enzymes of anaerobic fungi

Pectinolytic enzymes of four rumen fungi have been described. Three fungal species were monocentric Neocallimastix spp. H15, JL3 and OC2, and one isolate was a polycentric strain of Orpinomyces joyonii , A4. They differed in degree of pectin degradation and utilization. Only the strain Neocallimastix sp. H15 and partially Orpinomyces joyonii A4 were able to utilize pectin to a higher extent. The most important pectinolytic activity in all these isolates represented pectin lyase (EC 4.2.2.10) and polygalacturonase (EC 3.2.1.15). Their specific activities were in the range of 100–900 and 10–450 μg galacturonic acid h^-1 mg protein^-1 for pectin lyase and polygalacturonase, respectively. Polygalacturonase, located mainly in the endocellular fraction, was inhibited by calcium ions and had the main pH optimum at pH 6.0. All strains produced pectate lyase (EC 4.2.2.2). None of the strains tested produced pectinesterase (EC 3.1.1.11).     

Tightly coupled respiration in rat brain homogenates.

"Respiratory control", a typical feature of well coupled mitochondria, was found to be higher in rat brain homogenate than in isolated mitochondria. This observation points to the possibility of studying the coupling between respiration and ADP phosphorylation, as well as mitochondrial metabolism, directly in homogenates and not in isolated mitochondria, using very small samples of brain tissue.     

Protection against acute paraquat toxicity by ambroxol

An expression vector for G-CSF, pASLB3-3, was constructed and introduced into Namalwa KJM-1 cells (Hosoi et al., 1988), and cells resistant to 100 nM of methotrexate (MTX) were obtained. Among them, the highest producer, clone SC57, was selected and the productivity of this clone was further characterized. The maximal production of G-CSF was at the most 1.8 g/ml/day using a 25 cm² tissue culture flask, even though the cell number was above 7×10⁵ cells/ml. The limiting factors at high density were analyzed as the deficiency of nutrients, such as glucose, cysteine and serine, and pH control. The depression of specific G-CSF productivity per cell under the batch culture conditions was overcome by using a perfusion culture system, Biofermenter^TM (Sato, 1983) with modifications of nutrients supplementation by a dialysis membrane and/or dissolved oxygen (DO) supplementation by microsilicone fibers. ITPSGF medium was modified to elevate concentrations of amino acids and glucose by 2.0- and 2.5-times, respectively. Under the control of pH at 7.4 and DO at 3 ppm, the specific G-CSF productivity was not depressed even at high cell density (above 1×10⁷ cells/ml), and the amount of G-CSF reached 41 g/ml. These results indicated the possibility of finding the optimum culture conditions for the production of recombinant proteins by Namalwa KJM-1 cells.Abbreviations ABTS 2,2-Azino-di-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid - BSA Bovine Serum Albumin - BSA-PBS Phosphate-buffered Saline without Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ containing Bovine Serum Albumin - dhfr Dihydrofolate Reductase - DO Dissolved Oxygen - G-CSF Granulocyte Colony-stimulating Factor - HEPES 4-(2-Hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethansulfonic Acid - IFN Interferon - MTX Methotrexate - PBS(-) Phosphate-buffered saline without Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ - Tween-PBS Phosphate-buffered saline without Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ containing 0.05% of Tween 20     

Criteria for the emergence and evolution of life in the solar system

During the past years we have explored most of the bodies of the solar system by means of the Apollo, Venera, Viking, Voyager, and other space missions. We are now in a better position to be able to compare the conditions of other planets and satellites with those of the Earth in order to determine what is unique about our planet which permitted the emergence and evolution of life on it. On the basis of this and other available scientific information we have arrived at the conclusion that there are at least some twentyfive specific conditions or requirements which have to be fulfilled in order for life as we know it to appear and evolve in a planetary system such as ours. Most of these necessary conditions or requirements are mutually interdependent, but in order to discuss their role in depth they have been divided into five major general areas which are discussed in some detail herein. Planetary criteria, which relate to the physical properties of the planet as it is formed and as it becomes a differentiated cosmic body and potential abode of life. The mass, orbital characteristics and energetic relationships with the central star as well as the discrete separation of gas, liquid and solid phases of the planet are of utmost importance. Chemical criteria, which are concerned with the composition, availability of effective energy sources, and chemical constrainst (solvent, pH range, redox potential) of the environment(s) where reactions take place for the prebiological formation of biochemical compounds. Protobiological criteria, which relate to the prebiologically synthesized oligomeric and polymeric biomolecules, how they interact cooperatively to form protobiological structures and functions (replication, catalysis, information transfer, etc.) and self-assemble to give rise to a living system. Evolutionary criteria, which are concerned with the processes responsible for the increase in complexity of organisms by genomic multiplication, symbiotic integration and cellular differentiation, as well as with the negentropic ability of organisms to continuously recycle all the volatile biogenic elements. Altogether these processes made possible the development and evolution of life from the simplest prokaryotic cell ancestor to a cognitive and manipulative multicellular organism (man).In order to extend this inquiry to other systems beyond our solar system a fifth set of requirements based on astronomical observations is also discussed, namely, theStellar criteria, which relate to the elemental composition mass, lifetime, and other features of Main Sequence stars which may be surrounded by planetary systems similar to our own. Finally, a brief review is made on the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial life as well as of civilizations capable of interstellar communication in our Galaxy.Paper presented at the 6th College Park Colloquium, October 1981.