The influence of hormones and other substances on lens regeneration in vitro

Culturing the dorsal iris epithelium of a newt with a pituitary gland in organ culture greatly enhances the ability of the iris epithelium to produce advanced lens regenerates in vitro. In an attempt to elucidate the mechanism by which the pituitary enhances lens regeneration irido-corneal complexes from adult newts were cultured in medium to which various substances had been added either singly or in numerous combinations. Prolactin, insulin, hydrocortisone, and thyroxine failed to enhance the production of advanced lens regenerates in any of the doses or combinations tested. Similarly, addition of 50 microgram/ml of sodium or calcium ascorbate had no effect on the progress of lens regeneration in vitro. Addition of dibutyryl cyclic-AMP caused an inhibition of depigmentation and regeneration at high doses. The results of these experiments show that the effects of the pituitary cannot be duplicated by hormones which other authors have asserted to be beneficial to limb or tail regenerates in vitro. The results with cyclic AMP suggest that prolonged exposure to high doses of cyclic AMP inhibit regeneration and indicate that further studies on the fluctations in cyclic AMP levels throughout the process of lens regeneration must be done.     

Structure—activity relationships in the mutagenicity of quinone methides of 7-hydroxyflavylium salts for Salmonella typhimurium

Several synthetic 7-hydroxyflavylium salts related to apigeninidin, a natural 3-deoxyanthocyanidin, have been studied in the Ames mutagenicity test using strain TA1537 of Salmonella typhimurium. Under the neutral pH conditions of the test, these flavylium salts are deprotonated through ionization of the C7-OH (pK_a′ = 4.2–4.4) to form quinone methides. Only the quinone methides of 4-methyl-7-hydroxyflavylium chloride and 4′-methoxy-4-methyl-7-hydroxy-flavylium chloride showed mutagenicity. Responses of 4–8 times the background were observed at the higher doses (1000 μg/plate), both with and without metabolic activation. It was concluded that the induction of frameshift mutagenicity by this group of compounds is caused by those quinone methides that have non-ionic, stable polycyclic structures at neutral pH.     

Mechanism of action of ryanodine on cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum

Ryanodine was found to initially inhibit calcium uptake by cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum. This initial depression was followed by a later marked stimulation of calcium uptake. These effects were noted when calcium uptake was measured in the presence or absence of oxalate. The requirement for preincubation with ryanodine was highly dependent on ryanodine concentration and temperature. The mechanism of action of ryanodine clearly was not an effect on oxalate entry or calcium oxalate precipitation because the effects were also observed in the absence of oxalate. Ryanodine also had no effect on passive calcium efflux from actively loaded vesicles. Because ryanodine had no effect on Ca2+-ATPase activity under defined conditions of an ATP-regenerating system and no calcium gradient, we suggest ryanodine does not change the stoichiometry of the pump. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that ryanodine closes a calcium channel in a subpopulation of the vesicles.     

β-Xylosidases from filamentous fungi: an overview

β-Xylosidases are hydrolytic enzymes which play an important role in xylan degradation, hydrolyzing xylobiose and xylooligosaccharides to xylose from the non-reducing end. Filamentous fungi are particularly interesting producers of this enzyme from an industrial point of view, due to the fact that they secrete β-xylosidases into the medium. Besides, fungal β-xylosidases are highly advantageous for their elevated activity levels and specificity. Interest in xylanolytic enzymes has been increasing, for their possible application in many biotechnological processes. This fact has driven the isolation, purification and characterization of several β-xylosidases. In this review, the mechanisms of action, substrate specificities, physicochemical characteristics, regulation at molecular level, molecular cloning and classification of filamentous fungal β-xylosidases are described. The potential industrial applications of fungal β-xylosidases will also be presented.     

Content of red blood-cell sialic acid in BW 35 blood donors. Relation to magnesium concentration and pyruvate kinase activity

Previous studies have shown that the concentration of red blood cell (RBC) magnesium is significantly lower in subjects carrying an HLA-BW 35 antigen (p less than 0.001) than in non-carriers. As this finding might be related to modifications of the RBC membrane sialoglycoconjugates, RBC sialic acid was comparatively determined in BW 35+ and BW 35- subjects. Pyruvate-kinase activity mean RBC volume, and reticulocyte count have also been determined in order to estimate whether some significant variations in the level of these age markers could be detected between the HLA BW 35+ and BW 35- subjects. A significant negative correlation between sialic acid and RBC magnesium concentrations was observed for the whole population tested (n 57, p less than 0.005), 61% of the BW 35+ and only 25% of the BW 35- individuals having sialic acid values above, and magnesium values below the overall mean (p less than 0.01). The variance of mean RBC volume was also larger for the BW 35+ group. Other determinations did not show any significant variations, suggesting that the results are not related to RBC age.     

Protective reaction of the myocardium in poisoning

Intensive synthesis of collagen-like substance was revealed in the rabbit myocardium during experimental diphtheria intoxication. It was more marked in the right ventricle 24 hours after the injection of diphtheria toxin. Since similar changes (the substance was mainly formed around blood vessels) have been observed in other cases of toxic myocardial alterations (i.e. ethanol intoxication, injection of pharmacological agents, etc.), it can be assumed that it is a standard protective reaction of the altered heart to the penetration of toxic agents from the blood into the myocardial tissue.     

Effects of EEG of the osmotic opening of the blood-brain barrier in rats

EEG activity was recorded in rats submitted to osmotic opening of the BBB by intracarotid mannitol infusion.This procedure produced an immediate short-lasting depression of the EEG and a tardive paroxysmal EEG activity. Both these phenomena were more relevant on the ipsilateral hemisphere. In some instances a tonico-clonic seizure was recorded.Pre-treatment with diazepam abolished the occurrence of the tardive EEG and behavioral modifications.In accord with previous findings, focal seizure activity is likely to be responsible for the metabolic abnormalities associated with osmotic opening of the BBB. This preparation therefore produces in the brain unphysiological states in respect to local metabolism and electrical function.     

Penetration of analogues of H2O and CO2 in proteins studied by room temperature phosphorescence of tryptophan.

The influence of the protein matrix on the reactivity of external molecules with a species buried within the protein interior is considered in two general ways: (1) there may be structural fluctuations that allow for the diffusive penetration of the small molecules and/or (2) the external molecule may react over a distance. As a means to study the protein matrix, a reactive species within the protein can be formed by exciting tryptophan to the triplet state, and then the reaction of the triplet-state molecule with an external molecule can be monitored by a decrease in phosphorescence. In this work, the quenching ability (i.e., reactivity) was examined for H2S, CS2, and NO2- acting on tryptophan phosphorescence in parvalbumin, azurin, horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase, and alkaline phosphatase. A comparison of charged versus uncharged quenchers (H2S vs SH- and CS2 vs NO2-) reveals that the uncharged molecules are much more effective than charged species in quenching the phosphorescence of fully buried tryptophan, whereas the quenching for exposed tryptophan is relatively independent of the charge of the quencher. This is consistent with the view that uncharged triatomic molecules can penetrate the protein matrix to some extent. The energies of activation of the quenching reaction are low for the charged quenchers and higher for the uncharged CS2. A model is presented in which the quenchability of a buried tryptophan is inversely related to the distance from the surface when diffusion through the protein is the rate-limiting step.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)