Cadmium uptake by Spirulina maxima: toxicity and mechanism

Cadmium uptake by Spirulina maxima cells was more pronounced in living than in dead cells, with a maximum recovery of 47.63mg Cd/g cells for living cells and 37.00mg Cd/g cells for inactivated cells. When in the medium at 1.2mg/l, cadmium affected cell growth and diminished cell productivity. Cadmium was detected in the outer and inner faces of the external membrane, essentially in the lipid layer.     

PPCMatrix: a PowerPC dotmatrix program to compare large genomic sequences against protein sequences

Summary : An interactive dotmatrix program for the MacOS was designed that allows comparison of DNA to protein sequences using nested 3-frame translations. Availability : Shareware, available at http://copan.bioz.unibas.ch/software/ Contact : burglin@ubaclu. unibas.ch      

Cell metabolism and medium perfusion in VERO cell cultures on microcarriers in a bioreactor

Parameters of VERO cell growth and metabolism were studied in cultures performed on microcarriers (MCs) using a bioreactor with a working capacity of 3.7?l. Kinetic studies of VERO cell growth in batch, semi-batch and perfusion cultures using concentrations of 2 and 10?mg/ml of MCs showed that a high concentration of MCs (10?mg/ml) and the use of medium perfusion allowed the attainment of higher final yields of VERO cells (6?×?10⁶ cells/ml after 10 days of culture). Perfusion also allowed better use of MCs as indicated by the observation of about 100% of MCs totally covered by cells and the appearance of multilayered cells on 64% of MCs after 13 days of VERO cell culture with 2?mg/ml of MCs. Concerning the concentration of nutrients in the cultures, the medium perfusion was able to sustain suitable levels of galactose and glutamine, which quickly decreased after 4 days in batch cultures. The air inlet in the batch cultures was capable of eliminating the NH₄ ⁺ which accumulated in the medium culture. Lactate accumulated during the first days of culture but then was utilized by the cells and decreased along the culture time. The optimization of VERO cell cultures on microcarriers as indicated by the concentration of MCs, medium perfusion and air inlet is discussed.     

Lysozyme crystal growth, as observed by small angle X-ray scattering, proceeds without crystallization intermediates

A combination of small angle X-ray scattering and gel techniques was used to follow the kinetics of protein crystal growth as a function of time. Hen egg white lysozyme, at different protein concentrations, was used as a model system. A new sample holder was designed, in which supersaturation is induced in the presence of salt by decreasing the temperature. It had been shown previously that a decrease in temperature and/or an increase in crystallizing agent induces an increase in the attractive interactions present in the lysozyme solutions, the lysozyme remaining monomeric. In the present paper we show that similar behaviour is observed in NaCl when agarose gels are used. During crystal growth, special attention was paid to determine whether oligomers were formed as the protein in solution was incorporated in the newly formed crystals. From these first series of experiments, we did not find any indication of oligomer formation between monomer in solution and crystal. The results obtained are in agreement with the hypothesis that lysozyme crystals in NaCl grow by addition of monomeric particles. Received: 28 July 1997 / Revised version: 4 December 1997 / Accepted: 5 December 1997     

Zanthomamide: An aromatic amide from Zanthoxylum thomense

From the stem bark of Zanthoxylum thomense a new amide, zanthomamide has been isolated and characterized as N-methyl, N-cinnamyl-(3′,4′-methylenedioxy)-phenylethylamine. Other constituents identified are the known benzophenanthridines, decarine, norchelerythrine and angoline.     

Synthesis and biodistribution studies of carbohydrate derivatives radiolabeled with technetium-99m

Three carbohydrate derivatives, MAG₃-Gl, MAG₃-Ga, MAG₃-NG, were synthesized and radiolabeled in high yields. These substances were injected in health Swiss mice and their biodistribution were evaluated. Among them, ^99mTc-MAG₃-Ga displayed higher accumulation in hepatic tissue, due to the presence of specific receptors in the liver for this carbohydrate. Thus, the use of ^99mTc-MAG₃-Ga to assess hepatic function can be considered.     

The Zn polymorphic analogues of the [Fe(PM–PEA)2(NCS)2] spin-transition compound

We have studied the peculiarities of complex [Zn(PM–PEA)₂(NCS)₂], which presents large void cavities. As powder it does not show solvent inclusion, while as single crystals we have evidenced the existence of various polymorphs, with and without solvent inclusion. These results are preliminary results for the comprehension of the behaviour of mixed [Fe_xZn_1?x(PM–PEA)₂(NCS)₂], where Zn has been used to decrease the cooperative interactions between Fe atoms and check the effects on the wide hysteresis reported for this compound.