Structural studies of the Escherichia coli O-antigen 25

The structure of the Escherichia coli O-antigen 25 has been investigated using n.m.r. spectroscopy, methylation analysis, and various specific degradations. It is concluded that the O-antigen is composed of pentasaccharide repeating-units having the following structure.     

Status of reduced glutathione in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes and the effect on conjugation of benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-oxide

The intracellular level of reduced glutathione (GSH) and GSH conjugation have been investigated in primary cell cultures of hepatocytes isolated from control rats, phenobarbitone (PB) and 3-methylcholanthrene (MC) treated rats. The data demonstrate that in all cell cultures the GSH concentrations show a triphasic pattern: (i) within 1 h of culture an initial marked decrease to 50% of the levels found in fresh hepatocytes; (ii) recovery of GSH concentrations to above the levels observed in fresh cells. This occurs after 6 h in culture with control cells and after 10-24 h with cells from either PB or MC treated rats and was most prominent in cells from PB-treated rats. (iii) A slow decline to between 30 and 40 nmol GSH/mg protein from 24 to 96 h in culture. Synthesis of GSH was slower in cultured cells from PB treated rats and this was confirmed by the resynthesis rates when diethylmaleate (DEM) was used to deplete GSH. The formation of GSH conjugates with racemic 7 beta,8 alpha-dihydroxy-9 alpha,10 alpha-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (BPDE) was measured in control cells in suspension and after 3 and 24 h in culture. Despite the decrease in GSH concentrations observed between 1 and 4 h after culture, the conjugation rates were not decreased.     

Tissue Selenium in Pigs with Dietetic Microangiopathy (MAP, “Mulberry Heart”)

Mean selenium contents of liver, heart muscle and skeletal muscle of pigs with dietetic microangiopathy (MAP), but without waxy muscle degeneration (MD) and hepatosis diaetetica (HD), were 1113, 850 and 265 ng/g d.s., respectively. These values were not lower than corresponding values of control pigs without MAP, MD and HD.     

Factors Affecting Competence for Transformation in Staphylococcus aureus

A chemically defined medium has been developed for isolation of amino acid-requiring mutants of Staphylococcus aureus strain 8325, and for use as a selective medium in transformation assays. Variables affecting transformation of both plasmid and chromosomal markers have been studied. The optimal pH and temperature for transformation are 6.75 to 7.0 and 30 C, respectively. Ca ions are required for transformation, and only cells lysogenic for the phage phi11 can be transformed. Superinfection of competent cells with phi11 does not increase the transformation frequency. Maximal number of transformants is obtained after 20 min of contact between cells and deoxyribonucleic acid. The transformation frequencies for the plasmid marker erythromycin resistance (ero) and the chromosomal markers trp, thy, and cyt are of the same order of magnitude, whereas the frequency for the chromosomal marker tyr is approximately one order of magnitude lower.     

Electron microscopic demonstration of rat liver glycogen phosphorylase activity with iron (Fe++)

Summary In this study a new electron microscopic method for the demonstration of liver glycogen phosphorylase activity has been presented.Prior to incubation the liver samples were shortly fixed in cold paraformaldehyde. Inorganic phosphate, liberated in the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme, were precipitated with iron (Fe⁺⁺) present in the incubating medium. Postfixation was performed in glutaraldehyde and osmium tetroxide.The ferrous phosphate precipitate was detected electron microscopically in unstained sections.The precipitate was mainly localized to endoplasmic membranes but also in glycogen particles. The method is imperfect in demonstrating phosphorylase activity bound to glycogen particles because of poor preservation of glycogen during treatment.     

Degradation of polysaccharides containing uronic acid residues

A method for the selective degradation of polysaccharides containing uronic acid residues is described. It involves methylation of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups, base-catalysed elimination, and mild hydrolysis with acid. The degraded product is etherified with trideuteriomethyl or ethyl groups and hydrolysed, and the resulting mixture of etherified sugars is analysed, as the alditol acetates, by g.l.c.—m.s. Comparison of this analysis with the methylation analysis of the original polysaccharide gives information on the nature of the sugar residues on either side of the uronic acid residue.     

Differential cytotoxicity of activated lymphocytes on allogeneic and xenogeneic target cells. II. Activation by phytohemagglutinin

In the preceding paper it has been shown that human or mouse lymphocytes stimulated by a variety of agents, damaged allogeneic target cells while damage of xenogeneic target cells was weak or absent. In this study, the species specificity of the cytotoxicity of PHA activated lymphocytes has been studied in greater detail. Effector cells were purified lymphocytes either from human peripheral blood, or from spleen or lymph nodes of inbred mice. Target cells were ⁵¹Cr-labeled human Chang liver cells or mouse L cells.PHA stimulated human or mouse lymphocytes were significantly more cytotoxic to allogeneic than to xenogeneic target cells. At low PHA doses at which damage of allogeneic target cells was significant, damage of xenogeneic target cells was very weak or absent. At higher PHA doses, damage of xenogeneic target cells became also significant but always remained at a lower level than that of allogeneic target cells.Prestimulation of human lymphocytes with PHA for 3 days increased their cytotoxic efficiency. Furthermore, damage of human Chang cells by human lymphocytes had a dose-response relationship similar to that valid for stimulation of DNA synthesis. However, damage of mouse L cells by human lymphocytes increased at PHA-doses at which stimulation of DNA-synthesis declined. For mouse lymphocytes, these doseresponse relationships were less clear-cut, probably due to differences in origin and survival of the effector cells. This confirms previous observations that cytotoxicity and DNA-synthesis are different but probably interdependent expressions of lymphocyte activation.     

Influence of O Side Chains on the Attachment of the Felix O-1 Bacteriophage to Salmonella Bacteria

The adsorption rate constant (ARC) of the Felix O-1 (FO) bacteriophage to sensitive Salmonella strains was used to determine the effect of variations in surface antigens on phage attachment. The N-acetylglucosamine of the common-core polysaccharide of the Salmonella lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was found to be an essential part of the receptor for the FO phage in conformation with earlier reports. It was found that (i) the ARC was low for strains having O side chains containing two or three non core monosaccharides, (ii) the ARC varied when the O side chain contained no, or only one, noncore monosaccharide, (iii) the ARC was high when the O side chain contained only one repeating unit, and (iv) the ARC was high to mutants of chemotype Ra in which the N-acetylglucosamine was the terminal sugar of the LPS. Since a good correlation was found between the ARC of the FO phage and the phage-inactivating capacity of phenol water-extracted LPS, the results suggest that only the structure and composition of the LPS determines the adsorption rate of the FO phage. The phage-inactivating capacity of LPS from the Ra mutants increased in parallel with higher glucosamine contents in the core polysaccharide. In smooth strains having long and numerous O side chains, the access of the FO phage to its receptor is probably blocked by the presence of the side chains, whereas short and numerous side chains or T1 side chains do not interfere with the FO attachment.