Romanowsky staining,the Romanowsky effect and thoughts on the question of scientific priority

I give an historical account and analysis of the scientific priority of the discovery of the polychrome staining of microscopic biological preparations provided by mixtures of eosin plus methylene blue and its derivatives, especially azure B. I maintain that both the formal priority for the discovery of the polychrome staining phenomenon and credit for initiating the development of a technique of polychrome staining properly belong to D. L. Romanowsky. His scientific work demonstrated the possibility of using a simple technique to stain hematological preparations selectively to give good contrast, high resolution and the ability to identify malaria parasites. Romanowsky’s approach constituted the starting point for the development of a family of polychrome stains for microscopic investigation of hematological preparations by a number of his contemporaries.     

Determination of the elastase activity of the leukocyte thermostable alpha-glycoprotein from human blood plasma

The possibility of isolation of specific human granulocyte antigen--leukocyte thermostable alpha-glycoprotein (LTG) from plasma was shown. The isolation of preparations containing LTG was carried out on CNBr-activated sepharose with immobilized soluble fraction of pus. Using immunochemical analysis with standard antisera, the absence of plasma and leukocyte proteins and the presence of LTG in the preparations obtained were demonstrated. Pus may comprise a protein component capable of binding LTG. Elastase activity of the preparations obtained was established. The identity of LTG and granulocyte elastase is suggested.     

Novel compounds that increase expression of Hsp70 and its biological activity

The Hsp70 protein has chaperone activity, which is associated with the protective function that demonstrated in experiments using several cell lines and animals. Therefore, the search for the substances able to harmlessly elevate the chaperone concentration in the organism cells and tissues is particularly important. In our work, we screened more than 60 compounds and revealed two chemicals, i.e., derivatives of shikonin and echinochrome, that, at micromolar concentrations, were able to increase the chaperone level in various human cells. Under the effects of both of these substances, in human erythroleukemia K-562 cells, a significant increase in the absolute Hsp70 chaperone activity was also observed, which can indicate the mobilization of the entire cellular chaperone mechanism. The estimation of the biological activity of these two substances has shown that their action upon the treatment of cells with severe heat stress, hydrogen peroxide, and staurosporine leads to a decrease in cell mortality by 20–50% depending on the cytotoxic factor. These results show that, by effecting noncomplicated chemical modifications of the chosen substances, it is possible to obtain pharmacogenic agents of the wide profile of action.     

An electron paramagnetic resonance study of free radicals in cells

An electron paramagnetic resonance study was performed on cell lines of the following strains: HeLa, 37RC, L, FLC, NRK/RSV, 3T3/SV40.Unsynchronized and synchronized HeLa cells were studied with particular attention paid to the relation between growth and free radical concentration. Free radical levels were shown to be a function of the growth stage and different phases of the cell cycle.     

Effect of the length of internucleosome regions of DNA on the conformation of chromatid fibrils

Models of chromatin fibers structures with linear regions of linker DNA were analysed. Limitations put by end dimensions of linker DNA and nucleosomes are considered. Good agreement between the structural properties of model and real chromatin fibers was obtained. It has been shown that the models with three and more configurations of closely located nucleosomes have linker DNA of 19-53 base pairs length, which is characteristic of real chromatin of the majority of somatic cells.