Genetisch kontrollierte Varianten der NADH-Diaphorase

Zusammenfassung Die NADH-Diaphorase wurde an 725 gesunden Probanden mit Hilfe der Stärkegelelektrophorese untersucht. Zwei verschiedene Varianten wurden beobachtet: eine heterozygot schnelle (DIA 2-1) und eine heterozygot langsame (DIA 3-1). Die Genhäufigkeiten sind: DIA²=0,0021; DIA³=0,0007.

---

Genetically determined variants of NADH-diaphorase

Summary By means of starchgel-electrophoresis a screening for variants of NADH-Diaphorase was carried out within a sample of 725 healthy probands. Two kinds of genetically determined variants have been observed: a heterozygous phenotype with greater mobility (DIA 2-1) and a heterozygous phenotype with slower mobility (DIA 3-1). The gene-frequencies are estimated so far as 0.0021 (DIA²) and 0.0007 (DIA³).

---

---

Mit Unterstützung durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Organstruktur und Zellfunktion in explantiertem und später auto-retransplantiertem Schilddrüsengewebe

Zusammenfassung Schilddrüsengewebe von erwachsenen Kaninchen wurde in heterologem Medium in Rollröhrchen gezüchtet und 3 Wochen bis 4 1/2 Monate später auf das Spenderkaninchen rückverpflanzt. Hier blieben die Transplantate von 1 bis zu 8 Monaten. Die histologischen Befunde unmittelbar vor und nach Abschluß der Transplantation wurden miteinander verglichen. Unter beiden Lebensbedingungen, in vitro und im Transplantat, produzierten die Schilddrüsenzellen massenhaft Sekret, das in seinem färberischen Verhalten dem Schilddrüsenkolloid gleicht. Es wird für unwahrscheinlich gehalten, daß das Sekret biochemisch vollwertiges Schilddrüsenkolloid darstellt. Das Sekret wurde in großen Mengen intrazellulär gestapelt und führte schließlich zum Zellverfall.In den Transplantaten bestand nur dann Follikelanordnung, wenn diese auch noch in der Ausgangskultur vorhanden war. Die Follikel waren in jungen Transplantaten zunächst recht gut von Kapillaren umsponnen, doch verödeten diese später wieder. Alte Transplantate gingen schließlich genau so wie die gefäßlosen Gewebekulturen und wie alte, von vorn herein gefäßlos bleibende Transplantate durch intrazelluläre Sekretstapelung zugrunde. Es wird vermutet, daß in vitro der Mangel an thyreotropem Hormon zu dieser Fehlsteuerung führte und daß die Zellen auch im Transplantat nicht mehr auf das nun zur Verfügung stehende thyreotrope Hormon mit Ausschleusung des Sekrets reagieren konnten, weil dieser Mechanismus schon vorher in vitro pathologisch verändert worden war.Durch die Vorzüchtung wurde das Autotransplantationsergebnis erheblich verschlechtert.Eine maligne Entartung trat während der Züchtung in vitro nicht ein.     

Photoadaptation in marine Arctic diatoms

Summary Photoadaptation in some marine Arctic diatoms has been studied. Thalassiosira antarctica, Nitzschia delicatissima and Chaetoceros furcellatus were grown at-0.5°C and various irradiances and continuous light. Growth and cellular chlorophyll were followed during transitional phase after the algae had been transferred from one irradiance to another. Adaptation time for cellular chlorophyll was linearly related to the gradient in irradiance, and adaptation to transfer from high to low light was faster than from low to high light. Adaptation time was found to be species dependent, and Arctic diatoms growing at low temperature seemed to adapt as fast as temperate species.Contribution No. 243 from Trondhjem Biological Station     

Persistent abnormalities in lipoprotein composition and cholesteryl ester transfer following lovastatin treatment

Optimally effective lipid-lowering agents should not only restore plasma lipids to normal levels but also correct potentially atherogenic alterations in lipoprotein composition and function often present in hyperlipidemic patients. Lovastatin, a competitive inhibitor of cholesterol biosynthesis, clearly lowers plasma cholesterol levels. Its effects on lipoprotein composition and cholesteryl ester transfer (CET), a key step in reverse cholesterol transport, however, are not known. Since abnormalities in CET and lipoprotein composition are present in patients with hypercholesterolemia, we studied these parameters of plasma lipoprotein transport in twelve hypercholesterolemic (HC; Type IIa) subjects (six male, six female) before and 2 months after lovastatin treatment (20 mg qd). Before lovastatin, the free cholesterol (FC)/lecithin (L) ratio in plasma, a new index of cardiovascular risk that reflects lipoprotein surface composition, was abnormally increased (1.18 +/- 0.26 vs controls 0.83 +/- 0.14; P less than 0.001) in very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) and high density lipoprotein-3 (HDL3), and remained so after treatment despite significant declines in whole plasma cholesterol (311.7 +/- 68.2 vs 215.6 +/- 27.2 mg/dl; P less than 0.001), low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol (206.3 +/- 47.9 vs 146.8 +/- 29.4; P less than 0.001), and apolipoprotein B (149 +/- 30 vs 110 +/- 17; P less than 0.005).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Neuronal Intermediate Filament Expression During Neurite Outgrowth from Explanted Goldfish Retina: Effect of Retinoic Acid

Regulation of the goldfish neuronal intermediate filament proteins ON1 and ON2 was investigated in a retinal explant system. The synthesis of these proteins in explanted retina decreased with increasing time in culture, despite continuing neurite outgrowth. Thus, ON1/ON2 neurofilament expression is regulated independently from neurite outgrowth. During regeneration of the goldfish optic nerve in vivo, the expression of these proteins increased during the later phase of the process, when growing axons make contact with the optic tectum. The declining synthesis of ON1 and ON2 during neurite outgrowth in culture suggests that factors extrinsic to the retina are necessary to support synthesis of these proteins. Treating retinal explants with retinoic acid stimulated the synthesis of the ON1/ON2 proteins in a dose-dependent manner. This stimulation was effective during a period of declining synthesis of the ON1/ON2 proteins, restoring their synthesis towards initial levels of expression. These results show that retinoic acid serves as a modulator of neurofilament expression in this in vitro model of nerve regeneration.     

Isolation and reconstitution of furosemide-binding proteins from Ehrlich ascites tumor cells

Summary Furosemide-binding proteins were isolated from cholate-solubilized membranes of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells by affinity chromatography, using furosemide as ligand. Solubilized proteins retarded by the affinity material were eluted by furosemide. In reducing and denaturing gels, the major proteins eluted by furosemide were 100 and 45 kDa. In nonreducing, nondenaturing gels, homodimers of both polypeptides were found, whereas no oligomeric proteins containing both polypeptides were seen. It is concluded that the furosemide gel binds two distinct dimeric proteins. The isolated proteins were reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles and the K⁺ transport activity of these vesicles was assayed by measurement of⁸⁶Rb⁺ uptake against a large opposing K⁺ gradient. The reconstituted system was found to contain a K⁺ transporting protein, which is sensitive to Ba²⁺ like the K⁺ channel previously demonstrated to be activated in intact cells after cell swelling.     

Linkage analyses of human peptidase C (PEPC), human factor H (HF), and coagulation factor XIIIB (F13B)

Summary Linkage data on human peptidase C (PEPC), human factor H (HF), and coagulation factor XIIIB (F13B) are presented. The results confirm linkage between HF and F13B (lod=5.32 at =0.10 in males), and give strong evidence for linkage between PEPC and HF (lod=5.14 at =0.10 in males) and between PEPC and F13B (lod=3.55 at =0.10 in males). The claim that PEPA is linked with HF must be withdrawn.     

Self-organizing semantic maps

Self-organized formation of topographic maps for abstract data, such as words, is demonstrated in this work. The semantic relationships in the data are reflected by their relative distances in the map. Two different simulations, both based on a neural network model that implements the algorithm of the selforganizing feature maps, are given. For both, an essential, new ingredient is the inclusion of the contexts, in which each symbol appears, into the input data. This enables the network to detect the logical similarity between words from the statistics of their contexts. In the first demonstration, the context simply consists of a set of attribute values that occur in conjunction with the words. In the second demonstration, the context is defined by the sequences in which the words occur, without consideration of any associated attributes. Simple verbal statements consisting of nouns, verbs, and adverbs have been analyzed in this way. Such phrases or clauses involve some of the abstractions that appear in thinking, namely, the most common categories, into which the words are then automatically grouped in both of our simulations. We also argue that a similar process may be at work in the brain.On leave from: Institut für Physik, Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Strasse, D-8046 Garching, FRG     

Synthesis and evaluation of two new bifunctional carboxymethylated tetraazamacrocyclic chelating agents for protein labeling with indium-111

The synthesis of two new N- and C-functionalized tetraazamacrocyclic ligands intended to be covalently linked to biomolecules like monoclonal antibodies and to bind the gamma-emitting isotope indium-111 in a thermodynamically and/or kinetically inert way is described. 12-(p-Nitrobenzyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclotridecane-1,4,7,10-tetraa cetic acid (L1) was synthesized by means of bimolecular cyclization with the appropriate malonic acid diethyl ester and triethylenetetraamine, followed by reduction with diborane and alkylation of the cyclic tetraamine with bromoacetic acid. The corresponding triscarboxymethylated ligand L2 was made by statistical alkylation of the tetraamine. Both ligands fulfill the criteria for antibody labeling using the bifunctional chelate approach, namely fast chelate formation, high radiochemical yield, and high stability under physiological conditions. Surprisingly the heptadentate ligand L2 confers higher stability to In3+ and exhibits faster complex formation than octadentate L1. 13C NMR spectra in solution indicate that the difference in stability is not due to incomplete coordination of all four carboxylate groups in In-L1.