Keratinocyte growth-promoting activity from human placenta

Extracts of term human placenta were tested for enhancement of proliferative growth of primary cultures of human keratinocytes. Saline extracts or supernatants from homogenates were dialyzed extensively, lyophilized, and tested in subcultures of keratinocytes in MCDB 153 medium with 0.1 mM Ca++ containing only defined supplements (insulin, hydrocortisone, transferrin, ethanolamine, phosphoethanolamine). Cells plated in the absence of EGF at moderately high densities (1000-3000 cells per cm2) formed colonies and grew in the presence of placental extract at 25-500 micrograms/ml. Extracts of cord serum or maternal serum were inactive, suggesting that the activity is derived from placental tissue. The activity is not EGF, since the activity in the placental extract, unlike EGF, did not promote growth at low cell density, was synergistic with EGF under some conditions, and did not produce changes in colonial morphology which occurred in the presence of EGF. Unlike keratinocyte growth-promoting activity in bovine hypothalamic extract, the activity is non-dialyzable and is destroyed at 100 degrees C. Placental extract could not replace any of the defined components of the medium and is therefore distinct from them. The presence of activity in the placenta with distinctive properties suggests that this is a previously undescribed material with growth-promoting properties for epithelium.     

Estimation of population parameters and their application to the development of fishery management models in two African rivers

The dynamics of fish populations in two African rivers are being investigated with a view to developing fishery management models for tropical non-floodplain rivers. Preliminary work was carried out in the Rufiji River, East Africa, to establish growth and mortality rates along with L _∞ and K for six species in a river where fishing mortality is zero. These parameters, derived from scale-reading and length frequency analysis, also allowed the development of phased management plans for the fishery resulting from impoundment.
A subsequent investigation has begun on a West African river, the Taia in Sierra Leone, to pursue observations over four seasons, two of which are now complete. A systematic daily sampling programme is being carried out of the whole community, to accumulate similar but more extensive data to those obtained previously. In the Taia, however, fishing mortality must also be estimated from catch surveys, and analysis is carried out using the recently developed ELEFAN programs which can be compared with results obtained by other methods such as scale-reading.     

Effect of DNAase I on muscle tropomyosin polymerization

DNAase I, an endonuclease which interacts with G-actin, also affects tropomyosin polymerization. With chicken pectoralis or bovine cardiac ventricle tropomyosin, DNAase I both prevents tropomyosin from polymerizing and disrupts already formed tropomysin filaments. DNAase I and filament tropomyosin can also form a precipitable complex. In the electron microscope, the complex is observed as irregularly margined stellate-shaped structures with a maximum size of 9 micron. Isolated DNAase I-tropomyosin stellate complex consists of a 2:1 molar ratio of DNAase I and tropomyosin, suggesting that each tropomyosin subunit can bind DNAase I.     

Some observations on spermatogenesis in Gelastocoris oculatus (Hemiptera) with the aid of the electron microscope

The nuclear cap in the spermatogonial and early spermatocyte cells of Gelastocoris is an aggregate of closely packed mitochondria with their long axes perpendicular to the nuclear membrane. Eventually in the early growth period, the mitochondria move from the cap and appear to become more or less equally distributed in the cytoplasm where they remain until their fusion in the spermatid to form the nebenkern. The Golgi complex consists of clusters of lamellae and vesicles, the Golgi bodies. Granules form within the vesicles, increase in size, move from their place of origin and become distributed at random in the cytoplasm. They are the pro-acrosomal granules and at the end of the growth period fuse to form the proacrosome, about which Golgi bodies collect. The Golgi bodies, however, never fuse into an acroblast. At one end of the oval-shaped pro-acrosome is a small dark body and a less dense vesicle the future of which is uncertain. The dark body eventually occupies a position at the tip of the acrosome. The pro-acrosome, after moving to the side of the nucleus opposite the nebenkern, differentiates into the acrosome which elongates into a tail-like structure. The nuclear membrane of some spermatocytes may appear wave-like in cross section, with the crest and trough different in appearance. Near the membrane and in the troughs of the waves large clusters of granules are frequently present. Similar clusters may be found elsewhere in the cytoplasm. Presumably they had their origin near the membrane but this is not conclusive. Bodies of indeterminate origin and structure may be present in the cytoplasm. They could be lysosomes but evidence is lacking. In late spermatocytes and in spermatids, a group of ten or twelve granules is present. They are smaller than the pro-acrosomal granules, are always closely associated and pass as a group into the tail. Their significance is unknown. The endoplasmic reticulum is typical of cells in general. There are no granule accumulations within the vesicles as in some secretory cells. Vesicles of various shapes and sizes are present within the centrosphere of the first meiotic division. While their location is similar to that of the centriole, the identity of the vesicles is uncertain.