Hereditary syndrome of ectrodactyly, congenital heart defect and cleft lip and palate

A case of a family of he proband suffering from ektrodaktyly, together with heart defect, cleft lip and palate is reported. The parents came to the genetic counselling center to get the genetic prognosis for a next child. All together 3 cases demonstrating different types of radial defects were registered in this pedigree. The authors discuss possible causes of clinical polymorphism and accent the complications of giving genetic prognosis in such cases.     

The effect of the synthetic leu-enkephalin analog dalargin on the proliferative activity of glioma C6 cells and on the intensity of their DNA synthesis]

Effect of dalargin, an opioid peptide (a synthetic analogue of Leu-enkephalin), on proliferation and intensity of DNA synthesis of C6 glioma cells was studied. Specific conditions of cultivation were selected, with a low control value of proliferation, which permitted to assess growth-stimulating effect of the peptide. Growth curves were plotted to assess peptide activity, which demonstrated that reaction was a many-phase process: a significant increase in cell number under peptide effect was observed only at the beginning of the logarithm phase and at the beginning of the prestationary phase of the growth curve. Cell number increased on average by 25-27% in the presence of dalargin as compared to control. Reaction of glioma DNA synthesis to dalargin also demonstrates complexity of the process: the peptide changes DNA synthesis, but as a rule, this process has a three-phase character and is not directly associated with the duration of cultivation in the presence of dalargin. Effect of naloxone, an opiate receptor blocker, was analysed to assess the receptor mechanism. It was found that reaction for naloxone and for combined effect of naloxone and dalargin was not the same.     

Experimental and clinical study test of capreomycin]

Data on the experimental and clinical study of capreomycin in the treatment of tuberculosis are presented. It was shown that capreomycin had low activity with respect to the sensitive strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37 Rv in vitro and the respective infection caused by it in mice. The activity of capreomycin in vitro with respect to streptomycin resistant strains was the same as that with respect to the sensitive strains, while in vivo it increased 3 times. Capreomycin showed a tendency to decreasing its activity with respect to strains highely resistant to canamycin only in vitro. The effect of capreomycin on tuberculosis infection caused by strains resistant to different concentrations of canamycin was the same as that on tuberculosis infection caused by sensitive strains. Cross resistance between florimycin (viomycin) and capreomycin was shown. Clinical trails of capreomycin revealed its moderate therapeutic efficiency, relatively low toxicity and an allergenizing effect on the host. Transient ventibulopatia without pronounced signs of ototoxic action was observed. The nephrotoxic effect was moderate and transient. It was observed predominantly at the peak of the allergic reactions to the antitubercle drugs. The data obtained during the study allow recommendation of capreomycin use in clinics as reserve drug when the causative agent is not resistant to florimycin. The drug should be used under regular control of the blood picture, electrolyte metabolism, state of the kidneys, auditory and vestibular apparatus.     

Effects of medium viscosity on kinetics of the enzymatic reaction catalyzed by bacterial RNase

Effects of medium viscosity on kinetic parameters of poly(U) hydrolysis catalyzed by RNase from Bac. intermedius 7P (binase) were studied in solutions of sucrose (4-50 wt. %) and glycerol (35-62 wt. %) in Tris--sodium acetate buffer (pH 7.5) at 25 degreesC. The rate constant of reaction kcat was practically unchanged over a wide range of viscosities (1-15 cP for sucrose and 2.5-3 cP for glycerol). In glycerol solutions, kcat slightly increased with viscosity increase from 4 to 10 cP. Addition of NaCl to the buffer medium resulted in an inhibitory effect of Na+ on kcat, prevented by 50% sucrose or 60% glycerol. It is concluded that binase-catalyzed poly(U) cleavage occurs through a "tense"-substrate mechanism, similarly to reactions catalyzed by alpha-chymotrypsin, trypsin, and laccase.     

Multidrug-resistant tumor cells with decreased malignancy: a role for integrin alphavbeta3

We studied whether acquisition of multidrug resistance (MDR) by tumor cells can alter their integrin profile and malignant behavior. Hamster fibroblast cell line HET-SR-2SC-LNM was selected for MDR, yielding the 2SC/20 subline. Compared with the parental cells, the 2SC/20 subline weakly adhered to denatured collagen (dCol) which correlated with decreased expression of alphavbeta3, a dCol receptor. Importantly, 2SC/20 subline demonstrated significantly decreased activity of collagenase MMP-2, lower ability to invade Matrigel, and attenuated metastasis in syngeneic animals. We provide evidence for the first time that selection for MDR can be associated with down-regulation of alphavbeta3 integrin, supporting our recent proof of the pro-apoptotic role of this integrin (Oncogene 20 (2001) 4710). Lack of alphavbeta3 expression may link cell survival under toxic conditions with decreased malignancy of the resulting drug resistant tumor.     

Stress-protective and cross action of the extracellular reactivating factor of the microorganisms of the domains Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryota

Cross protection of members of the domains Bacteria, Archaea, and lower Eukaryota from stress factors due to the action of extracellular low-molecular metabolites with adaptogenic functions was shown. The adaptogen produced by Luteococcus japonicus subsp. casei and described previously as a reactivating factor (RF) was shown to protect the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae, archaea Haloarcula marismorti, and the cells of higher eukaryotes (HeLa) against weak stressor impacts. Production of an archaeal extracellular metabolite with a weak adaptogenic effect of the producer cells and capable of a threefold increase in survival of heat-inactivated yeast cells was discovered. Our results confirm the similarity of the compensatory adaptive reactions in prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) and eukaryotes.     

Special effects of a complex probiotic containing cellulolytic bacteria Cellulomonas on actively growing rabbits

It was shown that the association of probiotic bacteria of the genuses Bacillus and Cellulomonas form biolayers on the surface of beet marc particles. The positive effect of a fodder additive that contained the biolayer on the basis of a phytomatrix on the growth and development of young rabbits was shown. Feeding of animals with a mixed fodder that contained 0.1% preparation resulted in stimulation of digestion of all components of the food. Among other components of the mixed fodder, cellulose was digested most effectively. An increase in the biomass of symbiotic bacteria and enzymatic activity in the blindgut chymus was also observed. The positive nitrogen balance demonstrated an increase in the nitrogen content in animals and a decrease of its losses with excretion. The mechanism of response of the rabbit’s organism to introduction of the complex probiotic preparation into the digestive tract is discussed.     

The Parvicingulakhabakovi–Williriedellum salymicum Radiolarian Biohorizon in the West Siberian Bazhenov Formation (Berriasian–Valanginian)

Paleontological Journal - Three-dimensional SEM images of the radiolarian species Williriedellum salymicum Kozlova, 1983 were obtained for the first time, from the Berriasian–Valanginian...     

X-ray microanalysis of apical fluid in cystic fibrosis airway epithelial cell lines.

The ionic composition of the fluid lining the airways (airway surface liquid, ASL) in healthy subjects and patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) has been a matter of controversy. It has been attempted to resolve conflicting theories by using cell cultures, but published results show a wide variety of values for the ionic concentrations in the apical fluid in these cultures. To investigate CFTR-mediated HCO(3)(-) conductance and the role of HCO(3)(-) in regulating ASL pH we determined the pH of the fluid covering the apical surface of airway epithelial cells. A normal (16HBE14o (-)) and a CF (CFBE41o (-)) bronchial epithelial cell line were grown on membrane inserts in both a liquid-liquid interface culture system for 7 days, and in an air-liquid interface culture system for one month. The elemental composition of the fluid covering the apical surface was determined by X-ray microanalysis of frozen-hydrated specimens, or by X-ray microanalysis of Sephadex beads that had been equilibrated with the apical fluid. Analysis showed that the apical fluid had a Na(+) and Cl(-) concentration of about 80-100 mM and thus was slightly hypotonic. The ionic concentrations were somewhat higher in air-liquid interface than in liquid-liquid interface cultures. The apical fluid in CF cells had significantly higher concentrations of Na and Cl than that in control cultures. In control cultures, the concentrations of Na and Cl in the apical fluid increased if glibenclamide, an inhibitor of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) was added to the apical medium. Exposing the cells to the metabolic inhibitor NaCN also resulted in a significant increase of the Na and Cl concentrations in the apical fluid. The results agree with the notion that these cell cultures are mainly absorptive cells, and that ion absorption by the CF cells is reduced compared to that in normal cells. The pH measurements of the fluid covering the apical part of cell cultures support the notion that bicarbonate ions may be transported by CFTR, and that this can be inhibited by specific CFTR inhibitors.