Analysis of adenovirus type 2 L1 RNA 3''-end formation in vivo and in vitro.

Downstream sequence requirements for efficient cleavage and polyadenylation at the adenovirus type 2 L1 poly(A) site were determined in vivo in 293 cells and in vitro by using RNA precursors in HeLa cell nuclear extracts. The two cleavage sites used were found to differ in sensitivity to 3'-end deletion in vivo and in vitro.     

Relation of infant feeding to adult serum cholesterol concentration and death from ischaemic heart disease.

OBJECTIVE--To examine whether method of infant feeding is associated with adult serum lipid concentrations and mortality from ischaemic heart disease. DESIGN--Follow up study of men born during 1911-30. SETTING--Hertfordshire, England. SUBJECTS--5718 men, for 5471 of whom information on infant feeding had been recorded by health visitors and 1314 of whom had died. 485 of the men born during 1920-30 and still living in Hertfordshire who had blood lipid measurements. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Death from ischaemic heart disease; serum cholesterol and apolipoprotein concentrations. RESULTS--474 men had died from ischaemic heart disease. Standardised mortality ratios were 97 (95% confidence interval 81 to 115) in men who had been breast fed and had not been weaned at 1 year, 79 (69 to 90) in breast fed men who had been weaned at 1 year, and 73 (59 to 89) in men who had been breast and bottle fed. Compared with men weaned before one year men not weaned had higher mean serum concentrations of total cholesterol (6.9 (not weaned) v 6.6 (weaned) mmol/l), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (5.0 v 4.6 mmol/l) and apolipoprotein B (1.14 v 1.08 g/l). Men who had been bottle fed also had a high standardised mortality ratio for ischaemic heart disease (95; 68 to 130) and high mean serum concentrations of total cholesterol (7.0 mmol/l), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (5.1 mmol/l), and apolipoprotein B (1.14 g/l). In all feeding groups serum apolipoprotein B concentrations were lower in men with higher birth weight and weight at 1 year. CONCLUSIONS--Age of weaning and method of infant feeding may influence adult serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations and mortality from ischaemic heart disease. Adult serum apolipoprotein B concentrations are related to growth in fetal life and infancy.     

Increased postimplantation loss and malformations among the F2 progeny of male rats chronically treated with cyclophosphamide.

Cyclophosphamide, administered to the male rat, produces increased pre- and postimplantation loss in the progeny as well as an increase in the numbers of malformed and growth retarded fetuses. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the adverse effects of chronic paternal cyclophosphamide exposure are transmissible to the next generation, the F2 progeny. Adult male rats were treated by gavage daily with saline or with cyclophosphamide (3.4 or 5.1 mg/kg) for 4 or 18 weeks and mated. The male and female offspring in each treatment group (F1 generation) were randomly mated. The resulting pregnant females were killed on day 20 of gestation to evaluate progeny outcome in the F2 generation. There was a significant increase in postimplantation loss among the offspring of the group whose fathers had been treated with cyclophosphamide at a dose of 5.1 mg/kg/day. Exposure to a dose of 5.1 mg/kg/day of cyclophosphamide also resulted in an F2 generation with a significantly decreased mean fetal weight per litter and a significant increase in the number of malformed fetuses. The malformations observed among the F2 progeny included open eyes, omphalocele, generalized edema, syndactyly, gigantism, and dwarfism. Thus, exposure of the father to cyclophosphamide does result in a specific and heritable alteration in the fertility of the surviving "apparently normal" F1 progeny. Interestingly, the adverse consequences of exposure of male rats to cyclophosphamide are similar in the F2 generation to those previously reported for the F1 progeny.     

Regulation of calcium-activated nonselective cation channel activity by cyclic nucleotides in the rat insulinoma cell line,CRI-G1

The regulation of a calcium-activated nonselective cation (Ca-NS⁺) channel by analogues of cyclic AMP has been investigated in the rat insulinoma cell line, CRI-G1. The activity of the channel is modulated by cyclic AMP in a complex way. In the majority of patches (83%) tested concentrations of cyclic AMP of 10 μm and above cause an inhibition of channel activity which is immediately reversible on washing. In contrast, lower concentrations of cyclic AMP, between 0.1 and 1.0 μm, produce a transient activation of channel activity in most patches (63%) tested. One group of analogues, including N⁶-monobutyryl cyclic AMP and N⁶, 2′-O-dibutyryl cyclic AMP reduced the activity of the Ca-NS⁺ channel at all concentrations tested and 2′-O-Monobutyryl cyclic AMP produced inhibition in all patches tested except one, at all concentrations. A second group produced dual concentration-dependent effects on Ca-NS⁺, low concentrations stimulating and high concentrations inhibiting channel activity. 6-Chloropurine cyclic AMP and 8-bromo cyclic AMP produced effects similar to those of cyclic AMP itself. In contrast, 8-[4-chlorophenylthio] cyclic AMP also showed a dual action, but with a high level of activation at all concentrations tested up to 1mm. Ca-NS⁺ channel activity was also predominantly activated by low concentrations of S_p-cAMPS. The activating effects of both S_p-cAMPS and cyclic AMP are antagonized by R_p-cAMPS, which by itself only produced a weak inhibition of Ca-NS⁺ channel activity even at concentrations of 10 μm and above. The results are discussed in terms of a model in which cyclic AMP, and other cyclic nucleotides, modulate the activity of the Ca-NS⁺ channel by binding to two separate sites.     

LTB4 mediated hypoxemia in guinea pigs: relationship to pulmonary and cardiovascular pathophysiology

LTB4 is released in the presence of lung injury and may therefore play a role in the pathophysiology of the lung damage. We therefore, administered LTB4 as an I.V. bolus or as an aerosol to guinea pigs and assessed the physiologic response and the lung histology. After 2 ug of I.V. LTB4 airway pressure (AP) rose transiently by 5 +/- 1 mmHg and at five min was back to baseline while PaO2 fell from 96 +/- 5 mmHg to 78 +/- 3 mmHg and remained low at least 45 min. Static compliance (Cstat) was unchanged. Right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) and mean aortic pressure (MAP) rose from 9 +/- 1 to 16 +/- 1 mmHg and 43 +/- 4 to 62 +/- 5 mmHg respectively while cardiac index (C.I.) fell from 266 to 208 ml/kg/min but all values were baseline again by 10 min. Aerosolized LTB4 raised AP by 4.6 +/- 0.2 mmHg while PaO2 fell from 90 +/- 7 to 52 +/- 5 mmHg. AP recovered by 20 min but PaO2 remained low at least for 1 hour. MAP, RVSP and CI and Cstat were unaffected. Both I.V. and inhaled LTB4 increased neutrophil infiltrate in the lung although the water aerosol control did too, preventing us from showing a significant effect with LTB4 aerosol. Indomethacin blocked the airway effects and the hypoxemia after I.V. or aerosolized LTB4 but not the neutrophil infiltrate or the rise in RVSP. It actually enhanced (p less than .05) the rise in MAP after I.V. LTB4. Thus cyclooxygenase released products likely mediated the rise in airway pressure and the prolonged fall in PaO2 after LTB4 in guinea pigs but not the pulmonary and systemic vasoconstriction.     

Inspiratory-to-expiratory time ratio and alveolar ventilation during high-frequency ventilation in dogs

It has been suggested that the increase in inspiratory flow rate caused by a decrease in the inspiratory-to-expiratory time ratio (I:E) at a constant tidal volume (VT) could increase the efficiency of ventilation in high-frequency ventilation (HFV). To test this hypothesis, we studied the effect of changing I:E from 1:1 to 1:4 on steady-state alveolar ventilation (VA) at a given VT and frequency (f) and at a constant mean lung volume (VL). In nine anesthetized, paralyzed, supine dogs, HFV was performed at 3, 6, and 9 Hz with a ventilator that delivered constant inspiratory and expiratory flow rates. Mean airway pressure was adjusted so that VL was maintained at a level equivalent to that of resting FRC. At each f and one of the I:E chosen at random, VT was adjusted to obtain a eucapnic steady state [arterial pressure of CO2 (PaCO2) = 37 +/- 3 Torr]. After 10 min of each HFV, PaCO2, arterial pressure of O2 (PaO2), and CO2 production (VCO2) were measured, and I:E was changed before repeating the run with the same f and VT. VA was calculated from the ratio of VCO2 and PaCO2. We found that the change of I:E from 1:1 to 1:4 had no significant effects on PaCO2, PaO2, and VA at any of the frequencies studied. We conclude, therefore, that the mechanism or mechanisms responsible for gas transport during HFV must be insensitive to the changes in inspiratory and expiratory flow rates over the VT-f range covered in our experiments.     

Isolation of a new vanadium-containing nitrogenase from Azotobacter vinelandii

A new nitrogenase from Azotobacter vinelandii has been isolated and characterized. It consists of two proteins, one of which is almost identical with the Fe protein (component 2) of the conventional enzyme. The second protein (Av1'), however, has now been isolated and shown to differ completely from conventional component 1, i.e., the MoFe protein. This new protein consists of two polypeptides with a total molecular weight of around 200,000. In place of Mo and Fe it contains V and Fe with a V:Fe ratio of 1:13 +/- 3. The ESR spectrum of Av1' also differs from conventional component 1 in that lacks the g = 3.6 resonance that arises from the FeMo cofactor but contains an axial signal with gav less than 2 as well as inflections in the g = 4-6 region possibly arising from an S = 3/2 state. This new enzyme can reduce dinitrogen, protons, and acetylene but is only able to utilize 10-15% of its electrons for the reduction of acetylene.     

The presence and longitudinal distribution of the glutathione S-transferase in rat epididymis and vas deferens

The presence of the glutathione S-transferases, enzymes that catalyse the conjugation of glutathione with a variety of compounds, is reported here, for the first time, in the mammalian epididymis–vas deferens. These glutathione S-transferases, approx. 50% of those from rat liver on a per-mg-of-protein basis, are resolved by isoelectric focusing into six peaks, each with a characteristic isoelectric point and substrate specificity. By these same criteria, the first three peaks (pI 8.9, 8.2 and 7.8) can be identified as transferases B, A and C respectively. The fifth peak (pI7.2) may correspond to transferase M; the fourth (pI7.5) and sixth (pI7.0) peaks do not correspond to previously described transferases. The distribution of transferase activity towards any one substrate studied differs in sequential sections of the epididymis and vas deferens; in addition, the longitudinal-distribution pattern differs for each of the three substrates studied. Isoelectric focusing of the cytosol fractions of the different sections further substantiates these observations. The potential significance of these enzymes and of their distribution in terms of epididymal function, maturation of spermatozoa, is discussed.     

Cadherin mRNAs during rat embryo development in vivo and in vitro.

Whole rat embryo cultures are being used in increasing numbers of laboratories to study the mechanisms by which teratogens disturb development. The development of early somite stage embryos in vitro is very similar morphologically to that in vivo, yet few biochemical comparisons have been made. The purpose of this study was to determine the steady-state mRNA concentrations of a family of Ca(2+)-dependent cell adhesion molecules, the cadherins, during rat embryonic development in vivo and in vitro. Embryos and yolk sacs were collected on days 10, 11, and 12 of gestation (in vivo); they were also obtained from day 10 embryos after growth in culture for 24 hr (day 11 in vitro) or 45 hr (day 12 in vitro). Total RNAs isolated from embryos and yolk sacs were studied by Northern blot analysis using specific cDNA probes for three cadherins, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and P-cadherin. Although E-cadherin mRNA was detected in embryos, it was present at much higher concentrations in yolk sacs. In addition, multiple species of E-cadherin mRNA ranging from 3.0 to 13 kb were detected. Interestingly, the concentration of the major 4.5-kb E-cadherin mRNA species in yolk sac after 45 hr in culture was increased 2.8-fold over that on day 12 of gestation in vivo. Second, two species (4.3 and 3.5 kb) of N-cadherin mRNA were detected, almost exclusively in embryos. In yolk sac, N-cadherin mRNA was detected only after 45 hr in culture. Third, P-cadherin mRNA was detected as a single 3.5-kb species, mainly in embryos. P-cadherin mRNA concentrations in yolk sac after 45 hr in culture were 5.6-fold higher than in vivo. Thus, these results demonstrate that there is a differential distribution of cadherin mRNAs in rat embryos and yolk sacs. Further, there appear to be multiple species of mRNAs for E-cadherin and N-cadherin. Finally, while whole embryo culture in vitro did not significantly alter the steady-state concentrations of cadherin mRNAs in the embryo, these concentrations were dramatically increased in the yolk sac.