Structural and functional analysis of the respiratory burst in the phagocytosing macrophage

The interrelation between structural changes and oxygen consumption by the phagocyting macrophage was studied. The mean number of phagocyted particles was estimated by the method of stereological transformation. It is found that the uptake of yeast particles and CN- -nonsensitive oxygen consumption is related to the concentration of yeast cells in the incubation medium. A positive correlation was established between the oxygen consumption and the mean number of phagocyted particles. The results obtained may suggest that the "respiration burst" takes place in the contact area of the macrophage and the phagocyted material, and its extent probably depends on the surface of that contact area.     

Characterization and evolution of a single-copy sequence from the human Y chromosome.

To study the evolution and organization of DNA from the human Y chromosome, we constructed a recombinant library of human Y DNA by using a somatic cell hybrid in which the only cytologically detectable human chromosome is the Y. One recombinant (4B2) contained a 3.3-kilobase EcoRI single-copy fragment which was localized to the proximal portion of the Y long arm. Sequences homologous to this human DNA are present in male gorilla, chimpanzee, and orangutan DNAs but not in female ape DNAs. Under stringent hybridization conditions, the homologous sequence is either a single-copy or a low-order repeat in humans and in the apes. With relaxed hybridization conditions, this human Y probe detected several homologous DNA fragments which are all derived from the Y in that they occur in male DNAs from humans and the apes but not in female DNAs. In contrast, this probe hybridized to highly repeated sequences in both male and female DNAs from old world monkeys. Thus, sequences homologous to this probe underwent a change in copy number and chromosomal distribution during primate evolution.     

Removal of239Pu from mice with 3,4,3 LICAM(C) or N,N′, N″, N‴-tetra-(2,3-dihydroxybenzoyl)-spermine

Summary Male mice SAS/4 were injected i.v. with²³⁹Pu citr(IV) 0.27 µCikg^–1–9.99 kBqkg^–1. After 1 h 30 µmol kg^–1 of 3,4,3 LICAM(C), N, N, N, N-tetra-(2,3-dihydroxybenzoyl)-spermine or Na₃CaDTPA as a reference compound was given intraperitoneally. After 4 days the animals were sacrified and the Pu content in livers, kidneys, femurs and carcasses was determined by the liquid scintillation method. It was found that, as compared with the control, 3,4,3 LICAM(C) removed 83% of the Pu activity deposited in the liver, 71% of that in the femur and 79% of the Pu in the whole body. The Pu content in the kidneys exceeded the control value by about 50%. Na₃CaDTPA removed 96, 86, 40 and 72% of plutonium from the liver, kidneys, femurs and carcasses respectively.Tetra-DHB-spermine caused the excretion of 50, 57 and 39% of Pu from liver, bone and whole body respectively. The retention of Pu in the kidneys was increased to 400% of the control value.     

Phylogenetic relationships in theSideritis leucantha group (Lamiaceae)

Six closely related taxa of the sect.Eusideritis of the genusSideritis (S. leucantha, S. pusilla, S. flavovirens, S. granatensis, S. biflora andS. osteoxylla) are analysed to elucidate their phylogenetic relationships and position within the sect.Eusideritis. Meiotic behaviour, karyotype features, size and fertility of pollen grains, DNA amounts and seed protein profiles are reviewed. A polyploid origin of the group (from x = 7) and the further diversification through dysploidy and chromosome repatterning is postulated.S. osteoxylla is apparently of hybrid origin.     

Cloned nodulation genes of Rhizobium leguminosarum determine host-range specificity

Summary Three nodulation-deficient (nod) mutants of Rhizobium leguminosarum were isolated following insertion of the transposon Tn5 into pRL1JI, the R. leguminosarum plasmid known to carry the nodulation genes. DNA adjacent to the nod: Tn5 alleles was subcloned and used to probe a cosmid clone bank containing DNA from a Rhizobium strain carrying pRL1JI. Two cosmid clones which showed homology with the probe contained about 10 kb of DNA in common. The R. leguminosarum host-range determinants were found to be present within this 10 kb common region since either of the cosmid clones could enable a cured R. phaseoli strain to nodulate peas instead of Phaseolus beans, its normal host. Electron microscopy of nodules induced by Rhizobium strains cured of their normal symbiotic plasmid but containing either of the two cosmid clones showed bacteroid-forms surrounded by a peri-bacteroid membrane, indicating that normal infection had occurred. Thus it is clear that this 10 kb region of nodDNA carries the genes that determine host range and that relatively few bacterial genes may be involved in nodule and bacteroid development.     

α1-Adrenergic Receptor Mediates Arachidonic Acid Release in Spinal Cord Neurons Independent of Inositol Phospholipid Turnover

The alpha 1-adrenergic receptor has been shown to mediate the release of arachidonic acid in FRTL5 thyroid cells and MDCK kidney cells. In primary cultures of spinal cord cells, norepinephrine stimulated release of arachidonic acid (from neurons only) and turnover of inositol phospholipids (from neurons and glia) via alpha 1-adrenergic receptors. These two responses were dissociated by treatment with phorbol ester and pertussis toxin, which inhibited production of inositol phosphates with no appreciable effect on release of arachidonic acid. Extracellular calcium was required for release of arachidonic acid, but not for production of inositol phosphates. The calcium channel blockers nifedipine and verapamil inhibited release of arachidonic acid only. However, 8-(N,N-diethylamino)octyl-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate (TMB-8), a compound that blocks intracellular calcium release, diminished production of inositol phosphates, but had little effect on release of arachidonic acid. These results suggest that alpha 1-adrenergic receptors couple to release of arachidonic acid in primary cultures of spinal cord cells by a mechanism independent of activation of phospholipase C, possibly via the activation of phospholipase A2.     

Three separate mitochondrial DNA sequences are contiguous in human genomic DNA

We isolated from a HeLa genomic library 38 plaques that hybridized to total mitochondrial (mt) DNA isolated from human placenta. One clone (HLmt-17.8) hybridized to a 740 base-pair (12 S ribosomal RNA gene and displacement loop) mtDNA probe and was characterized in more detail. Within its 17.8 x 10(3) base-pair insert a 1.6 x 10(3) base-pair mtDNA fragment was similar to three non-sequential coding genes of human mtDNA, including a part of the 12 S ribosomal RNA (684-971), the cytochrome oxidase I (6553-7302), and two NADH dehydrogenase [ND4L/ND4] (10,606-11,159). The similarity to human mtDNA sequences was 92.0%, 92.3% and 92.4%, respectively, the highest degree of similarity to human mtDNA so far reported. This is also the first report of several adjacent mtDNA-like sequences in cellular chromosomes. The mtDNA-like sequences in HLmt-17.8 was found in the DNAs of human placenta, freshly isolated human leukocytes, foreskin and several human cell lines; but it was not present in other primates or lower organisms. The HLmt-17.8 mtDNA-like region appears to be a pseudogene that transferred into the nucleus in humans more recently than nine million years ago.     

Modeling the acquisition of counting with an associative network

In the acquision of counting by children, there are three interesting phenomena (Fuson et al. 1982): (1) the number word sequence produced by children can be divided into three distinct portions, called the conventional, stable nonconventional, and unstable portions; (2) irregular number words such as fifteen are omitted more often than regular ones such as fourteen, sixteen, and seventeen; and (3) initially the number word sequence is in a recitation form, rather than in the form of an associative chain of separable serial elements. Our paper at first analyzes these phenomena from the viewpoint of associative memory by assuming the number word sequences are made up of many associative relationships between the number words. This assumption is not contradictory to the third phenomenon described above, because the associative relationships are not confined only to those between the serial number words. On the basis of these anaylses, an associative network model, HAPS proposed by one of the authors (Hirai 1983), is extended so that it can mimic some aspects of the learning of sequence which involves the above three phenomena. The learning and production of sequence by the network are simulated on a digital computer, and the results show that the three phenomena can be observed in the performance of the network.     

Effect of interferon on the course of experimental E coli-induced pyelonephritis

The effect of the type I interferon on the development and process of experimental pyelonephritis caused by E. coli was studied on mice weighing 12 to 14 g. Interferon was administered intraperitoneally in a dose of 1000 units on days 3 and 7 of the disease. It was shown that the administration of the type I interferon to the mice with experimental pyelonephritis promoted rapid elimination of bacteria from the kidneys, prevented their penetration to the contralateral (intact) kidney, prevented marked macro- and microscopic damages in the kidneys, lowered the intensity of the inflammatory reaction, and increased the phagocytic activity of neutrophils and the number of the E-rosette-forming lymphocytes in the thymus. The data provided experimental grounding for clinical trials of interferon preparations in treatment of bacterial pyelonephritis.