Aniridia-Wilms' tumor association: evidence for specific deletion of 11p13.

A 7-year-old boy with aniridia, Wilms' tumor, and mental retardation, previously reported as having an interstitial deletion of the short arm of chromosome 8 resulting from a t(8p+;11q-) translocation (Ladda et al., 1974), has been restudied using high-resolution trypsin-Giemsa banding of prometaphase chromsomes. The results revealed a complex rearrangement with four break points in 8p, 11p, and 11q, leading to a net loss of an interstitial segment of 11p (region p1407 yields p1304) but not of 8p. His red blood cells contained normal activities of glutathione reductase (gene on 8p) and lactate dehydrogeanse A (gene on 11p12), indicating a gene dosage consistent with the chromosomal findings. The revised interpretation of this case agrees with seven others reported as having aniridia and interstitial 11p deletions in establishing the distal half of band 11p13 as the site of gene(s) which lead to aniridia and predispose to Wilms' tumor if present in a hemizygous state. Possible relationships between heterozygous deletion of specific chromosomal bands 11p13 and 13q14 and the autosomal dominant disorders aniridia, Wilms' tumor, and retinoblastoma, respectively, are discussed.     

Structural changes occurring in interrenal tissue of the duck (Anas platyrhynchos) following adenohypophysectomy and treatment in vivo and in vitro with corticotropin

Adrenal glands from ACTH-treated intact ducks and chronically adenohypophysectomized ducks showed clear zonation into a subcapsular zone (SCZ) and an inner zone (IZ). Adenohypophysectomy caused ultrastructural changes in the IZ but not in the SCZ cells. These included increases in lipid droplets, changes in mitochondrial cristae from tubular to shelf-like, and changes in the shape of the nuclei from spherical to crenated. These changes were reversed by treatment with ACTH. Also, cells of the IZ, but not the SCZ, of adrenals from intact birds given ACTH showed more SER, more dense bodies, fewer lipid droplets and more prominent Golgi complexes. IZ cells incubated in buffer containing no ACTH developed mitochondria with shelf-like cristae and numerous opaque granules in the matrix. Exposure to buffer containing ACTH caused the mitochondrial cristae to become tubular and the matrix granules either decreased in number or disappeared. The granules could be extracted by incubating sections with chelating agents. The mitochondria in SCZ cells did not respond structurally to the presence of ACTH in the incubation medium but the matrix granules, like those in IZ cells, responded to the presence of chelating agents.     

Biochemical and biophysical characteristics of diarrhea viruses of human and calf origin.

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analysis of purified preparations of human and calf diarrhea viruses indicated eight polypeptide components, or possibly nine in the case of the calf diarrhea virus. Thermal denaturation and analytical studies of the calf diarrhea virus genome showed it to consist of 11 double-stranded segments of RNA. The placing of the human and calf diarrhea viruses together with other similar viruses into a genus separate from reovirus and orbivirus, but within the family Reoviridae, is discussed.     

Feline aminopeptidase N serves as a receptor for feline, canine, porcine, and human coronaviruses in serogroup I.

Two members of coronavirus serogroup I, human respiratory coronavirus HCV-229E and porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), use aminopeptidase N (APN) as their cellular receptors. These viruses show marked species specificity in receptor utilization, as HCV-229E can utilize human but not porcine APN, while TGEV can utilize porcine but not human APN. To determine whether feline APN could serve as a receptor for two feline coronaviruses in serogroup I, feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) and feline enteric coronavirus (FeCV), we cloned the cDNA encoding feline APN (fAPN) by PCR from cDNA isolated from a feline cell line and stably expressed it in FIPV- and FeCV-resistant mouse and hamster cells. The predicted amino acid sequence of fAPN shows 78 and 77% identity with human and porcine APN, respectively. When inoculated with either of two biologically different strains of FIPV or with FeCV, fAPN-transfected mouse and hamster cells became infected and viral antigens developed in the cytoplasm. Infectious FIPV was released from hamster cells stably transfected with fAPN. The fAPN-transfected mouse and hamster cells were challenged with other coronaviruses in serogroup I including canine coronavirus, porcine coronavirus TGEV, and human coronavirus HCV-229E. In addition to serving as a receptor for the feline coronaviruses, fAPN also served as a functional receptor for each of these serogroup I coronaviruses as shown by development of viral antigens in the cytoplasm of infected mouse or hamster cells stably transfected with fAPN. In contrast, fAPN did not serve as a functional receptor for mouse hepatitis virus (MHV-A59), which is in serogroup II and utilizes mouse biliary glycoprotein receptors unrelated to APN. Thus, fAPN serves as a receptor for a much broader range of group I coronaviruses than human and porcine APNs. The human, porcine, and canine coronaviruses in serogroup I that are able to use fAPN as a receptor have previously been shown to infect cats without causing disease. Therefore, host factors in addition to receptor specificity apparently affect the virulence and transmissibility of nonfeline serogroup I coronaviruses in the cat.     

The isolation and partial characterization of a radiation-sensitive clone of a human bladder carcinoma cell line

The isolation of radiosensitive mammalian cell mutants has been limited largely to rodent cells. We report here the isolation of a radiosensitive variant (S40b) from 3648 analyzed clones of a mutagenized human bladder carcinoma cell line (MGH-U1). The surviving fraction at 2 Gy was 0.32 for S40b cells compared with 0.72 for MGH-U1 cells. Split-dose recovery experiments done at several doses did not show a difference between S40b and the parental line at any dose. Irradiation at the low dose rate of 2 cGy min-1 did not show a decreased dose-rate sparing at isoeffect in S40b cells. There was no difference between MGH-U1 and S40b cells in the amount of DNA damage present immediately after irradiation, as detected by neutral filter elution. The S40b variant therefore represents a new tool for the examination of the processing of DNA damage in human cells.