Effects of intravenous infusions of prostaglandin D2 in man

Prostaglandin D₂ (PGD₂) was infused intravenously into normal male volunteers. Seven subjects received infusions of 16, 32, 64 ng/kg/min and six of these a further dose of 128 ng/kg/min. Each individual's maximum dose was limited by discomfort caused by intense facial flushing and nasal congestion. At these doses there was no significant effect on systolic or diastolic blood pressure nor on spirometric measurements. There was a small but statistically significant tachycardia at 64 and 128 ng/kg/min. Collagen- and adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced platele aggregation was not affected at any of the infusion rates. Infused PGD₂ is unlikely to be a useful antithrombotic agent.     

Metalloproteinase inhibitors from bovine cartilage and body fluids

Inhibitors of the mammalian metalloproteinases, collagenase, proteoglycanase and gelatinase were isolated from bovine cartilage (extracts and culture medium) and bovine amniotic fluid and serum. These inhibitors either bind or do not bind to concanavalin-A--Sepharose, with Mr (gel filtration) of about 30 000 and 20 000, respectively. Cartilage and chondrocyte culture media contained only concanavalin-A-binding inhibitors whereas cartilage extracts contained only a non-binding inhibitor: serum and amniotic fluid contained both forms of inhibitory activities. In moist biochemical respects, particularly in their abilities to inhibit metalloproteinases, all of the inhibitors were found to be similar. It is concluded that the forms of the inhibitors that differ in Mr may be closely related to the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) previously purified from rabbit and human sources. These findings help to clarify other studies on collagenase inhibitors and support the concept that TIMP-like inhibitors may be important in the control of connective tissue degradation.     

Photoinactivation of Detergent-Solubilized Plasma Membrane ATPase from Rosa damascena: Action Spectra

The photochemistry of vesicular and detergent-solubilized preparations of plasma membrane-associated ATPase was investigated in Rosa damascena. The cholate-solubilized ATPase activity fractionated into two peaks on a Sephadex G-150 column with simple, but different ultraviolet (UV) sensitivities. The larger enzyme was UV sensitive; the smaller enzyme was relatively insensitive. The activity of both ATPase fractions depended on environment: both were inactive in cholate, relatively inactive in phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol, and active in phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylserine. The UV sensitivities of both fractions also depended on their environment. For the UV sensitive fraction, the action spectrum differed in the 300 to 400 nanometers range when the fraction was irradiated with and without lipids. For the resistant fraction, UV sensitivity at 290 nanometers differed (up to 6-fold) in different lipids. The resistant fraction solubilized in octylglucoside had an action spectrum very different from that in cholate or in lipid vesicles. The absorption spectra of the different preparations reflected the action spectra. For both UV sensitive and insensitive fractions, the action spectra for photoinactivation had peaks at 290 nanometers, suggesting that the chromophores were tryptophanyl residues. The loss of ATPase activity was strictly correlated with the loss of fluorescence from tryptophan in the partially purified enzymes. Cs⁺ protected the UV sensitive activity but not the insensitive one. We propose a model which explains the difference in UV sensitivities based on the positions of the tryptophan residues in the two proteins.     

A reassessment of the binding of napthaleneacetic acid by membrane preparations from maize

Naphthalene-1-acetic acid (NAA) binding by membrane fractions derived from maize has been re-evaluated. Using a computer curve-fitting procedure only one major type of NAA binding, in terms of binding affinity, could be identified. Auxins, antiauxins and structurally related compounds have been tested for their competitive effect on NAA binding and the inhibitor constants for a number of these have been determined. Extracts from various plant species have been examined for their NAA binding ability, but all showed much less binding than maize leaf or coleoptile preparations. The possibility of the NAA binding by maize extracts being due to a true hormone receptor is discussed.Abbreviations BA benzoic acid - CPIB p-chlorophenoxyisobutyric acid - 2,4-D 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - DCB 2,4-dichlorobenzoic acid - IAA indolyl-3-acetic acid - NAA napthalene-1-acetic acid - 2-NAA napthalene-2-acetic acid - NAOA napthalene-2-oxyacetic acid - PA phenylacetic acid - PU phenylurea - 2,4,5-T 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid - TIBA 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid     

On the optimal harvesting of persistent age-structured populations

Summary This paper discusses optimal harvesting policies for age-structured populations harvested with effort independent of age.     

Augmentation of ADCC in mice by microbial fractions

Summary The effects of a multicomponent microbial vaccine on murine (BALB/c) splenocyte antibody-dependent cytotoxicity (ADCC) to chicken red blood cells were studied. The vaccine consisted of BCG cell wall skeleton (CWS), trehalose dimycolate, and mutant S. typhimurium endotoxin attached to mineral oil microdroplets, and was administered in a single intravenous dose. ADCC began to increase as early as 2 days following injection, was significant by 5 days, persisted for as long as 20 days, and was associated with splenic hypertrophy. Administration of the vaccine over a dose range of 1.5–15–150 g demonstrated an increasing cytotoxic response with increasing dosage. The majority of cytotoxic activity was eliminated by passage of the effector cells through Sephadex G-10. Serial addition of each of the three components to the preparation and testing of each of the components separately revealed that no one component was responsible for the augmentation of the ADCC, but that the CWS probably made the least contribution. Subtraction of the oil from the whole vaccine preparation resulted in a modest but significant loss of augmenting activity.     

Reduction of bias in estimating the frequency of recessive genes.

The standard approach to estimating the frequency of a completely recessive autosomal gene is to use the maximum-likelihood estimator (MLE), q = square root q2. Since the expectation oof Q using MLE is systematically less than the true value, this estimator always gives a negatively biased estimate of q. Here we describe the bias associated the MLE over a range of q and N values, explore some of the properties of this estimator, and propose new estimators which reduce the bias. We also describe some of the new estimators' properties, as well as the remaining bias associated with them for varying q and N values. We further propose one of these estimators as the one which most effectively reduces bias over a specific q value range of approximately .005 to .05, and which is less biased than JLE over essentially all q and N values. The proposed estimator also is directly compared with MLE in calculating various available estimates of q, demonstrating the percentage of reduction in bias achieved. This reduction varies from negligible for estimates of q above .3 and N greater than 100, to a 23% reduction in bias for a q value of .09 and an N value of 215.     

Studies on the H-Y antigen in rats

The H-Y antigen has been studied under a variety of experimental conditions in BN and Lewis rats. The results indicate that 1. graft size is crucially important in determining the fate of male skin isografts on females; 2. H-Y incompatible ear skin grafts survive significantly better than those of trunk origin; 3. prior exposure of females to male lymphoid cells greatly increases their capacity to reject male skin isografts; 4. neonatal castration has no influence on the expression of H-Y; 5. multiparity can induce unresponsiveness to H-Y; and 6. although BN females respond better than do Lewis females to H-Y, the antigen is stronger in Lewis males. These findings are compared with the results of similar experiments conducted with mice.Submitted in memory of Dr. Joy Palm, member of the Wistar Institute, who pioneered the genetic analysis of histocompatibility in rats.