Systematic studies of Pinus balfouriana based on volatile terpenoids from wood and needles and on seed morphology

Essential oil from wood and from needles of Pinus balfouriana, growing in six geographically well-separated locations in California, was analysed by GLC. Several monoterpenoid components, in particular -pinene from needles, were found to be usable for distinguishing between trees from the northern and southern parts of the geographic range. Similarity coefficients were calculated and dendrograms constructed. These demonstrated the distinct separation of the northern from the southern populations, and thus substantiated the proposal by Mastrogiuseppe to regard the southern populations as a subspecies. While the northern populations exhibited a tendency to produce larger seeds with longer wings, the difference was of only moderate diagnostic value.     

Evaluation of three E-rosette assays in melanoma patients

Summary The percentage of E-rosette-forming cells (E-RFC) was determined repeatedly in the peripheral blood of 43 patients with malignant melanoma. Three methods of E-rosette assaying were used: total E-rosette test, active E-rosette test, and 29° C E-rosette assay.Depressed E-RFC values were found in fewer assays than normal values. The mean values of E-RFC and the proportion of depressed E-RFC in patients in stage I did not differ from the values in healthy control persons whatever method of assay was used.The frequency of depressed E-RFC values was higher in advanced stages. Significant differences were demonstrated between stage I and stages II and III combined in the values for total and for active E-rosettes (P<0.01).The active E-rosette test and the 29° C E-rosette assay gave no more positive results (i.e., depressed E-RFC values) than the total E-rosette test in melanoma patients.     

Fluorosugars inhibit biological properties of different enveloped viruses.

Both 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose and 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-mannose were found to be potent inhibitors of the synthesis of infectious Semliki forest and fowl plague virus in chicken embryo cells and also of pseudorabies virus grown in rabbit kidney cells. It was found that the pseudorabies virus-mediated cell fusion and the synthesis of functional hemagglutinin of fowl plague virus were blocked. In all cases the 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-mannose-caused inhibition was stronger than the 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose- or 2-deoxy-D-glucose-mediated blocks. Studies on the virus-specified proteins from Semiliki forest virus-infected cells grown in the presence of the inhibitors show that the target of the fluorosugar action, parallel to the well-studied effects of 2-deoxy-D-glucose, is the glycoprotein biosynthesis.     

Adjacent repeating units of xenopus laevis 5S DNA can be heterogeneous in length

The distribution of length heterogeneity in adjacent repeating units of X. laevis 5S DNA has been examined by “cloning” 5S DNA in bacteria. Fragments of 5S DNA produced by partial digestion with Hind III and containing 1, 4, and 5 repeating units have been inserted at the single Hind III site of the tetracycline-resistance plasmid, pSC101, and the hybrid plasmids cloned in E. coli. Adjacent 5S DNA repeats in the cloned multi-repeat fragments can differ in length. This finding rules out some mechanisms which have been proposed to account for the parallel evolution of tandem repeated DNAs. The results are consistent with an unequal crossing-over mechanism and place some constraints on the molecular processes in this recombinatory event.     

Permeability of sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane. The effect of changed ionic environments on Ca2+ release

Summary Permeability properties and the effects of a changed membrane potential on Ca²⁺ release of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles of rabbit skeletal muscle were investigated by Millipore filtration. The relative permeability of sarcoplasmic reticulum to solutes determined under conditions of isotope exchange at equilibrium and/or under conditions of net flow of solute and water into the vesicles was as follows: sucrose, Ca²⁺, Mn²⁺–, choline⁺, Tris⁺–+, Na⁺, Li⁺, Cl^–. Transient membrane potentials were induced by rapidly changing the ionic environment of the vesicles. Knowledge of the relative permeation rates of the above ions allowed prediction of the direction and extent of membrane polarization. Osmotic effects in the polarization measurements due to the rapid influx of solute and water into the vesicles were minimized by using media containing a fast (K⁺ or Cl^–) and a relatively slow (gluconate^– or choline⁺) penetrating ion.⁴⁵Ca²⁺ efflux from vesicles derived from different parts of the sarcoplasmic reticulum structure was not appreciably changed when vesicles were made more positive inside (choline chloride potassium gluconate) or more negative inside (potassium gluconate choline chloride). These studies suggest that part or all of the ion-induced changes in sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane permeability, previously interpreted to indicate depolarization-induced Ca²⁺ release, may be due to osmotic effects.     

Water in normal muscle and muscle with a tumor

The total water content, the amount of non-freezable water, and the Na⁺ and K⁺ contents in the gastrocnemius muscle of albino mice with and without a solid tumor were determined. The spin-lattice relaxation time (T₁) for the water protons in the two kinds of muscle were measured at six resonance frequencies ranging from 4.5 to 60 MHz over the temperature range +37 to −65°C. Quantitatively calculated T₁ values are given. The difference in T₁ for the two types of muscle at temperatures above −5°C is attributed to the difference in the distribution ratio of water between hydration and free states, and bears no direct relation to the concentration of Na⁺.     

Serum ferritin,cobalt excretion and body iron status.

Serum ferritin concentration was measured by immunoradiometric assay in 64 subjects. It was closely related to the size of body iron stores measured by hemosiderin content of bone marrow in all subjects and by the deferoxamine test in 10 patients with iron overload. Urinary cobalt excretion, an indirect measure of iron absorption, was inversely related to hemosiderin content of bone marrow in 34 patients aged 18 to 72 with or without liver disease, but this relation did not hold in a group of 20 student volunteers aged 17 to 30, indicating that the test is unreliable in young people. A strong inverse correlation was demonstrated between values for cobalt excretion and serum ferritin in the 34 patients and between those for iron absorption and serum ferritin in the 20 students. Serum ferritin concentration appears to reflect accurately the iron status of the healthy individual but high values in liver disease must be interpreted with caution.     

Indomethacin alters the effects of substance-P and VIP on isolated airway smooth muscle

Both substance-P and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) have previously been demonstrated to contract and relax, respectively, the isolated guinea pig trachea. In addition, substance-P and VIP have been localized within the pulmonary innervation of various species. In the present studies, substance-P was found to cause a concentration-related contraction of isolated lung parenchymal strips of the guinea pig, as well as isolated tracheal strips. VIP caused a significant concentration-related relaxation of the isolated tracheal strip, but not the lung parenchymal strip. Indomethacin, a prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor, potentiated the contractile response of the trachea to substance-P and inhibited the VIP- and isoproterenol-induced relaxation. These studies are potentially important in understanding the pathogenesis of bronchospastic disorders, since alterations in prostaglandin biosynthesis may result in hyperreactivity of airways to contractile agonists such as neurotransmitters, as well as an inhibition of relaxation induced by endogenous substances such as VIP or β agonists.