Genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis in Duchenne myopathy: yesterday, today and tomorrow

The coming of molecular biology has greatly modified the concept of genetic counselling and prenatal diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The most important stages of the genetic counselling are reported: estimate of the risk and carrier detection. This heterozygote detection is now possible in a few cases owing to polymorphic DNA markers recently identified that are genetically linked to the DMD gene locus and detected with probes. An analysis of foetal DNA is also possible and allows us to consider prenatal diagnosis of this affection. This study is yet limited by two impediments: on one hand low rate of informative families, on the other hand use of markers that are not very closely linked to DMD involving recombinations and risks of errors. The solution of these problems is in the use of linked DNA markers with the best polymorphism flanking the Duchenne muscular dystrophy locus. Finally the authors report the necessity of strict collaboration systems between clinical experts, geneticists, biologists and informaticians.     

Structural and dynamic properties of a fluorouracil-adenine base pair in DNA studied by proton NMR

An oligodeoxynucleotide duplex containing the chemotherapeutic agent 5-fluorouracil (FU) has been constructed by solid phase phosphotriester synthesis and has been studied in solution by proton NMR. In this study, we provide the first structural characterization of a DNA complex containing a FU.A base pair. It has been determined that the 7-mer duplex containing a central FU.A base pair adopts a normal right-handed configuration and the A residue in the FU.A pair is oriented in the normal anticonfiguration giving a Watson-Crick base pair. The significant difference between T.A and FU.A base pairs is dynamic, not structural: the FU.A base pair opens faster than normal base pairs in the oligonucleotide studied. We provide evidence that the FU.A base pair has a significantly enhanced opening rate resulting form decreased stacking of the 5-fluorouracil residue and not from the enhanced acidity of the 5'-fluorouracil imino proton.     

Phorbol esters and calcium ionophores inhibit internalization and accelerate recycling of receptors in macrophages

Exposure of macrophages to phorbol esters or the calcium ionophore A23187 increases the number of several surface receptors due to recruitment of receptors from internal pools (Buys, S. S., Keogh, E. A., and Kaplan, J. (1984) Cell 38, 569-576). We have examined the mechanism by which these agents increase surface receptor number. Cells which were preloaded with either fluid phase or receptor-mediated ligands did not lose ligand following exposure to ionophore or phorbol ester. The rate of movement of ligands to the lysosome was also unaffected. These results suggest that A23187 does not induce the fusion of ligand-containing compartments with the cell surface. Ionophore treatment did, however, produce a severalfold increase in the rate at which unoccupied receptors reappear on the cell surface. These results suggest that the compartment of receptors affected by the ionophore formed subsequent to the dissociation of ligand from receptor. The altered rate of receptor reappearance was transitory (90 s), and the increase in receptor number was subsequently maintained by a decrease in the rate of internalization. Changes in the rate of receptor internalization did not correlate with changes in the rate of fluid phase pinocytosis, suggesting that the effect on receptor internalization was selective.     

Effect of phagocytosis on receptor distribution and endocytic activity in macrophages

Phagocytosis requires the internalization of a significant fraction of the plasma membrane and results in the intracellular deposition of large particles. We evaluated the effect of phagocytosis on the cellular distribution of recycling receptors and uptake of ligand to determine whether phagocytosis affects receptor behavior. Phagocytosis of zymosan, latex particles, or IgG-coated red blood cells by rabbit alveolar macrophages did not decrease the number of cell surface receptors for transferrin, alpha 2-macroglobulin X protease complexes, maleylated proteins, or mannosylated proteins. The number of surface receptors for transferrin was also unaltered in J774 cells, a macrophage-like cell line. In both cell types extensive phagocytosis did not affect the rate of receptor-mediated endocytosis or the distribution of receptors between the endosome and the cell surface. However, fluid phase pinocytosis was reduced by phagocytosis. The major reduction appeared to be not in the rate of internalization but rather in the delivery of fluid to the lysosome. These results demonstrate that internalization of a significant amount of the plasma membrane during phagocytosis does not diminish the number of receptors on the cell surface and has no effect on receptor-mediated ligand uptake.     

Structural and dynamic properties of a bromouracil-adenine base pair in DNA studied by proton NMR

We have synthesized and studied by proton NMR a duplex heptaoligonucleotide containing a 5-bromouracil (brU)-adenine base pair. This represents the first structural characterization of a B-form DNA containing brU. The brU.A base pair is Watson-Crick rather than Hoogsteen as seen for the monomers in the crystalline state. From analysis of the NOESY sepctra at very short mixing times evidence is presented that substitution of brU for T induces significant conformational changes from that of a normal B DNA. The helix twist between brU4.A11 and G3.C12 is ca. 15 degrees and for both brU4 and G3 the glycosyl torsion angles are significantly changed. The imino proton of the bru.A base pair shows a pH insensitive line with which shows that the pK of brU in this base pair is very much higher than that of the monomer.     

Reconstitution of emulsifying activity of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus BD4 emulsan by using pure polysaccharide and protein.

Acinetobacter calcoaceticus BD4 and BD413 produce extracellular emulsifying agents when grown on 2% ethanol medium. For emulsifying activity, both polysaccharide and protein fractions were required, as demonstrated by selective digestion of the polysaccharide with a specific bacteriophage-borne polysaccharide depolymerase, deproteinization of the extracellular emulsifying complex with hot phenol, and reconstitution of emulsifier activity with pure polysaccharide and a polysaccharide-free protein fraction. Chemical modification of the carboxyl groups in the polysaccharide resulted in a loss of activity. The protein required for reconstitution of emulsifying activity was purified sevenfold. The BD4 emulsan apparently derives its amphipathic properties from the association of an anionic hydrophilic polysaccharide with proteins.     

Epithelial impedance analysis in experimentally induced colon cancer.

Epithelial impedance analysis was used to measure the alterations in resistance of the large bowel in a murine model of large bowel cancer. The technique was able to resolve the epithelial resistance from the total resistance of the bowel wall. A progressive decrease in resistance of the bowel epithelium occurs during carcinogenesis induced with dimethyhydrazine. About a 21% decrease in epithelial resistance from 22.0 +/- 1.3 omega.cm-2 to 17.5 +/- 1.1 omega cm-2 (p less than 0.025) was observed after 20 wk of carcinogen administration. The sensitivity of the technique in detecting altered epithelial resistance in premalignant bowel mucosa was improved by examining the impedance profile in a sodium-free Ringer's solution where the epithelium of control colons had a resistance of 24.4 +/- 1.8 omega.cm-2 compared with 19.0 +/- 1.1 omega.cm-2 (p less than 0.02) in colons from animals treated for only 4 wk with the carcinogen. Epithelial impedance analysis would seem to be a sensitive technique capable of identifying changes in the electrical properties or the large bowel early in disease states.     

Alterations in pp60c-src accompany differentiation of neurons from rat embryo striatum.

Cultured neurons from rat embryo striatum were found to contain two structurally distinct forms of pp60c-src. The 60-kilodalton (kDa) form appeared similar to pp60c-src from cultured rat fibroblasts or astrocytes. The 61-kDa form was specific to neurons and differed in the NH2-terminal 18 kDa of the molecule. In undifferentiated neurons the predominant phosphorylated species of pp60c-src was the fibroblast form. Upon differentiation, a second phosphorylated form of pp60c-src was detected. This form had two or more additional sites of serine phosphorylation within the NH2-terminal 18-kDa region of the molecule, one of which was Ser-12. The specific protein-tyrosine kinase activity of the total pp60c-src population increased 14-fold, as measured by autophosphorylation, or 7-fold, as measured by phosphorylation of an exogenous substrate, as striatal neurons differentiated. This elevation in protein kinase activity occurred without a detectable decrease in Tyr-527 phosphorylation or increase in Tyr-416 phosphorylation. Our results support the idea that the expression of the neuron-specific form of pp60c-src and the increase in specific protein kinase activity may be important for neuronal differentiation.