The Material Life of Human Beings: Artifacts, Behavior, and Communication

The Material Life of Human Beings: Artifacts, Behavior, and Communication. Michael Brian Schiffer with Andrea R. Miller. New York: Routledge, 1999. 158 pp.     

The mouse Fc receptor for IgG (Ly-17) : molecular cloning and specificity

A cDNA clone encoding the mouse Ly-17⁺ Fc receptor for IgG, isolated from a myelomonocytic cell line, was sequenced and expression of mRNA and the functional FcR investigated. The receptor is a 301 amino acid transmembrane glycoprotein with two homologous extracellular domains that are also homologous to members of the Ig superfamily. The receptor has four sites of N-linked glycosylation and a long 94 amino acid cytoplasmic tail. Northern analysis, immune complex binding, and serological studies demonstrate that the receptor encoded by the cDNA clone binds mouse IgG_1/2b and rabbit IgG complexes.     

Proteolytic cleavage of IgG and other protein substrates by Dirofilaria immitis microfilarial enzymes

Proteases were detected in aqueous extracts of Dirofilaria immitis microfilariae. Enzymes within the extract were capable of hydrolyzing Azocoll, a general protease substrate, at pH's 7, 8, and 9. Sensitivities to a variety of protease inhibitors indicated that multiple azocollytic enzymes were present in the extract, most prominent of which appear to belong to the serine class of proteases. By incorporating various substrates into the matrices of polyacrylamide gels, 2 SDS-resistant, mercaptoethanol-sensitive proteases in the MF extract were identified at 22 and 76 kDa. These proteases showed differential abilities to digest casein, fibrinogen, hemoglobin, and IgG. The MF extract hydrolyzed radiolabeled IgG into 8-10-kDa fragments following a 20-hr incubation. A similar degree of digestion was observed in 2 hr when viable microfilariae were used. The potential significance of these proteases in the evasion of host effector mechanisms is discussed.     

Extrapolation from in vitro tests to human risk: experience with sodium fluoride clastogenicity

Genotoxic effects observed in vitro, only at high doses or high levels of cytotoxicity, will be false positives if such conditions are not achieved or cannot be tolerated in vivo. However, for such effects to be disregarded there must be a threshold dose or level of cytotoxicity below which genotoxicity is absent. Sodium fluoride (NaF) has previously been shown to be clastogenic in vitro in Syrian hamster cells and human fibroblasts. We have extended these studies in human fibroblasts and included a positive control (mitomycin C, MMC) which is clastogenic in vivo and carcinogenic, and a chemically related control (NaCl). Cytotoxicity was measured as mitotic inhibition and cell death (loss of clonogenicity). The results are used to illustrate the problems associated with quantitative extrapolation from in vitro tests to human risk, as follows. (1) There appears to be a threshold response (clastogenicity vs. dose) with NaF at around 10 micrograms/ml (48 h exposure) but a more definitive conclusion must await elucidation of the mechanisms of clastogenicity. (2) NaCl is weakly clastogenic at 1000 times the threshold dose for NaF. The mechanisms are unlikely to be similar. (3) No clastogenicity was detected with NaF below about 30% mitotic inhibition but the relationship between clastogenicity and mitotic inhibition was similar for NaF and MMC. (4) There was no obvious threshold in the relationship between clastogenicity and cell killing with NaF. MMC was less clastogenic than NaF at equitotoxic doses. Observations 3 and 4 preclude the possibility of regarding the clastogenicity of NaF as a false positive by virtue of associated cytotoxicity.     

Purification and properties of L-mandelate dehydrogenase and comparison with other membrane-bound dehydrogenases from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus.

L-Mandelate dehydrogenase was purified from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus by Triton X-100 extraction from a 'wall + membrane' fraction, ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel, (NH4)2SO4 fractionation and gel filtration followed by further ion-exchange chromatography. The purified enzyme was partially characterized with respect to its subunit Mr (44,000), pH optimum (7.5), pI value (4.2), substrate specificity and susceptibility to various potential inhibitors including thiol-blocking reagents. FMN was identified as the non-covalently bound cofactor. The properties of L-mandelate dehydrogenase are compared with those of D-mandelate dehydrogenase, D-lactate dehydrogenase and L-lactate dehydrogenase from A. calcoaceticus.     

Evolution of the Ribosomal DNA Spacers of Drosophila melanogaster : Different Patterns of Variation on X and Y Chromosomes

Length variation of the ribosomal gene spacers of Drosophila melanogaster was studied. Analysis of 47 X chromosomal and 47 Y chromosomal linked rDNA arrays collected from five continents indicates that the arrays on the two chromosomes differ qualitatively. The Y-linked arrays from around the world share little or no similarity for either their overall length or the organization of their spacers. Most of the X-linked arrays do, however, share a major length spacer of 5.1 kb. In addition, those X-linked arrays that have a major 5.1-kb band have similar spacer organization as demonstrated by genomic DNA digestions with several restriction enzymes. These data strongly support the hypothesis that spacer length patterns on only X-linked genes are maintained primarily by natural selection.