A first case of myiasis in fish

Maggots of an unidentified species of Caliphora were discovered in freshwater fish, Astyanax mexicanus fasciatus, shipped from Hong Kong to Norway. This represents the first reported case of myiasis in fish.     

A dye-binding induced conformational transition of poly-(methacrylic acid) by Auramine O in aqueous solutions. I. Experimental results

Binding of auramine O to poly-(methacrylic acid) (PMA) has been established over a large range of C⁰_p/C⁰_d values using spectroscopic methods (UV absorption and visible fluorescence emission spectra), equilibrium and sedimentation dialysis, potentiometric and viscosimetric titrations. All the results show qualitative agreement with those obtained previously with the system crystal violet-PMA although the binding seems to be less strong for auramine O than for crystal violet. From dialysis experiments binding isotherms were obtained at three different degrees of neutralization α'; at α' = 0.10 the results could be fitted to a Langmuir isotherm but at α' equal to 0.40 and 0.65 deviations with respect to such an isotherm occur. The results of potentiometric and viscosimetric titrations confirm that the conformational transition which the dye-free PMA exhibits upon ionization is affected by the dye binding. The region in which the conformational transion occurs is broadened and is less sharply defined in the presence of auramine O.     

Elastase is a constituent product of T cells

Proteases produced by immune cells have been found to be important components of the immune response to antigen. A protease previously unrecognized as a specific T cell product has been identified which has the gene sequence, serologic crossreactivity, and enzymatic specificity of elastase. T cell elastase, found in combination with the natural elastase inhibitor alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1-protease inhibitor, alpha 1-PI), is produced by both CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, and is found both in a membrane-bound and in a soluble form in murine T cell lines.     

Analysis of therapeutic growth hormone preparations: report of an interlaboratory collaborative study on growth hormone assay methodologies.

Recombinant DNA-derived human growth hormone (somatotropin) is widely used to treat growth hormone-deficient children. The potency of this product is determined by in-vivo bioassay in hypophysectomized rats, which is imprecise, costly and invasive, and there have been suggestions that it could safely be replaced with in-vitro or physico-chemical alternatives. In this report we present the results of a collaborative study designed to test this proposal. Somatotropin was modified by mild or severe proteolysis, mild or severe oxidation or treatment at high pH, and compared in a multi-centre collaborative study with unmodified somatotropin or with dimerized somatotropin. Participating laboratories included manufacturers and national control laboratories, and pharmacopoeial bioassays were compared with in-house in-vitro and physico-chemical bioassays. Although performing adequately with untreated somatotropin, for degraded samples the in-vivo bioassays were relatively unresponsive to changes in the growth hormone molecule. In contrast, the physico-chemical assays, in particular the reverse-phase HPLC, performed with a high degree of selectivity. We conclude that in the case of somatotropin, the in-vivo bioassay can be removed from the routine product specification with an acceptable degree of security. This however does not obviate the requirement rigorously to demonstrate biological activity in-vivo during product development, nor may the conclusions of this study be applied to other therapeutic recombinant proteins without similar collaborative investigations.     

THE ROLE OF ROOTS IN THE NUTRITION OF AQUATIC VASCULAR PLANTS

Rooted stems of three aquatic species were cultured in a two-compartment apparatus which allowed the upper and lower portions of the stem to be kept in different nutrient solutions. P³² was supplied to either the upper or lower compartment. At the end of a 10-day growth period, the specific activity of phosphate was determined in axillary shoots which developed during the course of the experiment from buds in the upper compartment. The results indicated that most of the phosphate in these shoots was not absorbed from the ambient medium but was derived from the rooted stem base in the lower compartment (over 90 % in Myriophyllum brasiliense, 59 % in M. spicatum, and 74 % in Elodea densa). These results give a very different but probably more accurate picture of phosphate absorption in rooted aquatic vascular plants than short-term experiments, in which phosphate is readily taken up from the ambient medium by leaves of M. spicatum and E. densa. In M. brasiliense the amount of phosphate translocated is related to the mass of roots present. Evidence is presented that normal growth of axillary shoots occurs even when all mineral ions have to be obtained by translocation from the lower compartment.