Indomethacin inhibition of ovulation in the cow

Indomethacin or saline was administered via intramuscular, intrauterine or intraovarian routes to dairy cows, within 24 h after standing oestrus was first observed. The incidence of ovulation was determined at slaughter. All of the saline-treated cows (18/18) ovulated. Ovulation was not blocked after intramuscular injection (0/6) or intrauterine infusion (0/6) of indomethacin. In all cows, ovulation was blocked after intraovarian injection (6/6) of indomethacin. These findings add support to the hypothesis that prostaglandins play an essential role in ovulation in the cow as in many other mammalian species.     

Seasonal distribution of enteroviruses and adenoviruses in domestic sewage

A seasonal distribution of enteroviruses and adenoviruses in raw sewage effluents of Athens, Greece, was observed over a 15-month surveillance period. All 36 samples tested were positive for both virus groups. Adenovirus concentration levels ranged from 70 to 3200 cytopathic units per litre of sample, whereas the corresponding values for enteroviruses were 90-900 cytopathic units per litre. Peak values for adenoviruses were recorded during the months of April and June 1983, whereas for enteroviruses the peak was recorded in September 1983. All three types of poliovirus were present. Coxsackievirus types B-1, B-2, B-4, and B-5 and echovirus type 7 were also isolated. Adenovirus types 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 15 were detected as well.     

The Plastids and Pigments of Fresh and Dried Chinese Gooseberries (Actinidia chinensis)

The pericarp of Chinese gooseberries is green due to the presenceof low concentrations of chlorophylls. On a f. wt basis thereis about 1.5 times more tetrapyrollic pigments (chlorophyllsand related compounds) in the outer pericarp than in the innerpericarp, whereas the carotenoid pigment values only showed1.25 times more in the outer than in the inner part of the fruit.The drying of Chinese gooseberries at 40 °C for 40 h resultedin the loss of at least half the tetrapyrollic pigments andof carotenoids. Chlorophylls a and b were converted to chlorophyllides,pheophytins and pheophorbides. Chloroplasts in the outer pericarp are clustered closely aroundthe nucleus and have a well-defined grana and inter-granal membranesystem. In the inner pericarp the chloroplasts are again clusteredaround the nucleus and there is a proliferation of inter-granalmembranes. In dried tissue the limiting membrane of chloroplastswas completely dispersed whereas some of the internal membranesremained intact. Actinidia chinensis Planch., Chinese gooseberry, Kiwi fruit, pigments, chloroplast structure     

Human dynein and sperm pathology

Human spermatozoa with normal structure and with different axonemal deficiencies (absence of axoneme, of arms, or of central structures) were studied by electron microscopy, SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and ATPase activity measurements. Normal human sperm possess a complement of high molecular weight polypeptides with an electrophoretic migration similar to that of sea urchin and other mammalian sperm dyneins. Human high molecular weight bands are numbered one to four in order of increasing of electrophoretic mobility; all of them are absent in spermatozoa that lack axoneme. The absence of doublet arms, coincides with the absence of bands 2, 3, and 4; the absence of central structures coincides with a reduction in intensity of band 2. In the latter two abnormal conditions, band 1 has an increased intensity. The data are tentatively interpreted by attributing the polypeptides forming bands 3 and 4 to the arm structure, whereas band 2 is supposed to contain a mixture of polypeptides localized in the arms and in the central structures; these abnormal sperm contain modified polypeptides which gather in band 1. Histochemical ATPase stainings indicate that this enzyme is localized mainly in the doublet arms and, to a minor extent, in the central structures.     

The structure, biochemical properties, and immunogenicity of neurofilament peripheral regions are determined by phosphorylation state

Treatment of freshly isolated, bovine neurofilaments with Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase removes over 90% of the phosphate groups from serine residues of the Mr 200,000 and 150,000 polypeptide components (NF200 and NF150). Dephosphorylated NF200 and NF150 remain associated with filaments, but migrate in sodium dodecyl sulfate gels with reduced apparent molecular weights. Unusual migration appears to be due to modification at regions of these polypeptides that are peripheral to the neurofilament backbone as defined by limited chymotryptic digestion. Over 90 monoclonal antibodies recognizing epitopes located within the peripheral domain of native NF200 all show reduced affinity for dephosphorylated NF200. A single monoclonal antibody binds within the filament-associated domain of NF200 and its recognition of NF200 is unaffected upon treatment of neurofilaments with phosphatase. Around 50% of our monoclonal antibodies that bind NF150 monospecifically and at epitopes within its peripheral domain have reduced affinities for NF150 from phosphatase-treated filaments, while the remaining 50% bind native and dephosphorylated NF150 equally well. The smallest neurofilament component (NF70) contains few phosphate groups, most of which remain after treatment of neurofilaments with phosphatase. The resulting form of NF70 migrates normally in gels and its recognition by antibodies is unchanged. We conclude that phosphorylation modifies the structure of the two larger neurofilament polypeptides along domains that are peripheral to the filamentous backbone and that these effects are more pronounced for NF200 than for NF150.