Some observations on the localization of mitomycin C-induced aberrations in human lymphocytes

Actively cycling human lymphocytes were treated with mitomycin C for 1 h (1.4 μg/ml) and then grown in medium containing 10 μg/ml bromodeoxyuridine. Serial 5-h colcemid accumulation samples were taken up to 35 h and the air-dried methaphase spreads stained for replication banding. A complete cell-cycle subphasing analysis was made, and classified cells scored for all categories of chromatid-type aberrations and their location.

Inspite of the high dose which produced massive delay and cycle perturbation, there was no evidence for selectively lethality of early-S cells, in fact such cells were in excess. Extreme localization of aberrations to late-replicating (mostly centromeric) regions was found at all subphases and in pre-S cells. This rules out ‘localization by default’ as an explanation for the observed preferential occurence of ‘break points’ in these regions.

The frequency of incomplete intrachanges, low in late S, rises dramaticallyin early S to become maximal in pre-S cells.     

Stimulation of proliferation ofTetrahymena pyriformis by trace rare earths

Using two Chinese strains ofTetrahymena pyriformis, S1 and BJ4, as the biological models, the effects of lighter rare earths (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, and europium), representatives of heavier rare earths (yttrium and thulium), and mixed rare earths were studied. The stimulation of population growth ofTetrahymena in peptone-glucose media containing trace amounts of these elements have been observed. The mechanisms for the beneficial effects of rare earth elements in low concentrations remains to be discovered.     

Correlation between limitation of growth ofPachysolen tannophilus on D-xylose with the formation of ethanol and other products

The formation of ethanol, xylitol, ribitol, arabitol and acetic acid from D-xylose byPachysolen tannophilus correlated with the limitation of growth. The correlation was consistent with these products being secondary metabolites.Issued as NRCC Publication Number 24259.     

肝素修饰尿激酶某些性质的研究

本文对比研究了溴化氰活化及高碘酸活化肝素修饰的两种修饰尿激酶的性质。结果表明尿激酶在溴化氰活化肝素(肝素CN),高碘酸钠活化肝素(肝素I_4)的共价修饰后,其残余自由氨基分别是64％和52％;酶活性分别保留94％和90％;抗胃蛋白酶水解以及抗冻融变性的能力均高于天然酶;在离体血浆中的失活速变低于天然酶。本文还对修饰酶进行了萤光及紫外差光谱的分析,讨论了修饰过程对构象的影响。     

Biological activity in vivo of insulin analogues modified in the N-terminal region of the B-chain

[AlaB5]Insulin as well as a hybrid analogue of insulin and "insulin-like growth factor" (IGF-I), in which the N-terminal amino-acid sequence H-Phe-Val-Asn-Gln- of the B-chain has been replaced by the tripeptide H-Gly-Pro-Glu-of IGF-I, have been prepared by the partial-synthetic route. Their biological activity in vivo has been compared with that of other analogues in rabbits, mice and rats as far as data are available. These rodents respond differently, rats being less sensitive to modifications than rabbits and mice. The results explain unexpected discrepancies discussed in previous papers.     

树鼩(Tupaia belangeri chinensis)精子发生的细胞学观察

对8只成体树鼩的睾丸进行了精子发生的细胞学和动力学观察。精原细胞可区分为A型和已分化定向的B型。生精上皮周期可分为12个连续阶段,不同阶段典型的细胞组合可被辨认。各阶段的相对持续时间以阶段Ⅴ、Ⅵ、Ⅶ的比率最高,分别为11.43,18.88、15.44;阶段Ⅸ、Ⅹ最低,为3.78和3.87。A型精原细胞在各阶段的数量分布并不保持恒定,阶段Ⅵ—Ⅷ和阶段Ⅸ时,分别出现两次成倍增长。B型精原细胞和前细线期精母细胞与每100个足细胞之比的平均值,在阶段Ⅰ、Ⅴ、Ⅶ分别为28.89、76.98、196.91。精细胞经14步变态为成熟精子。精子形成过程中顶体发育的形态学变化及成熟精子的形态,与灵长类动物相比具有较多的类似之处;而同啮齿类动物相比,存在明显的形态差异。     

The key role of residue 5 in angiotensin II

The conformation–biological activity relationships in a series of angiotensin II analogs substituted in position 5 were studied. Results indicated that only analogs with β-branched residue in position 5 possess spectral and biological properties identical to that of parent angiotensin II.     

Determination of nanogram quantities of osmium-labeled nucleic acids by stripping (inverse) voltammetry

Modification of nucleic acids with OSO4 in the presence of pyridine results in a formation of a covalently bound electroactive center in a polynucleotide chain detectable by polarographic (voltammetric) methods. It has been shown that DNA modified with osmium (DNA-Os) accumulates at the hanging mercury-drop electrode during a waiting time in a wide range of potentials between 0 and -1.0 V (against the saturated calomel electrode) and produce at neutral pH a well-developed reduction peak at about -1.2 V due to scanning in the cathodic direction. Using the differential-pulse stripping (inverse) voltammetry, nanogram quantities of single-stranded DNA-Os can be determined at relatively short waiting times (1-3 min). Double-stranded DNA is modified with osmium to a much lesser extent as compared to single-stranded polynucleotides. The degree of modification of double-helical DNA is influenced by the presence of single-stranded and distorted double-stranded regions in the DNA molecules and by the environmental conditions which influence the DNA conformation. Osmium can thus be used as a probe of the DNA structure, and a few micrograms of double-helical DNA sample suffice for the voltammetric analysis.     

Age-Related Changes in Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Activity of Rat Brain, Liver, and Heart

Abstract: Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity was measured in brains, livers, and hearts of 23–26-month-old and 3-month-old rats. A significant increase of ALDH activity was found in whole brain of old rats with both acetaldehyde (39%) and propionylaldehyde (15%) used as substrates. In different brain areas of old rats, with acetaldehyde used as substrate, a significant increase of ALDH activity was found in striatum (30–50%) and cerebral cortex (37%). However, no significant difference in ALDH activity was found in livers and hearts of young and old rats. Preliminary experiments showed a significant increase of aldehyde reductase activity (52%) with p -nitrobenzaldehyde used as substrate in whole brain of old rats compared with young rats. The present work indicates that an increase of ALDH activity in brain of old rats may be an adaptive phenomenon.