Cord transferrin and ferritin values for erythropoiesis in newborn infants of diabetic mothers

Neonatal polycythemia is a perinatal complication in infants of diabetic mothers. The cord CBC (complete blood counts), serum iron, transferrin and ferritin concentrations were studied in newborn infants of 9 GDM (gestational diabetes), 21 NIDDM (noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus), and 8 IDDM (insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus) mothers. The RBC (red blood cell) count, Hb (hemoglobin) and Hct (hematocrit) of these infants were higher than control infants. There was no difference between the serum iron concentration of the infants of each group diabetic mothers and the infants in the control group, but the transferrin concentration was significantly higher and the ferritin was significantly lower in the infants of diabetic mothers than in those of control mothers. There was a significant negative correlation between transferrin and ferritin (r = -0.491 p less than 0.001). Erythropoiesis is considered to be enhanced in the fetuses of diabetic mothers, and the iron needed for erythropoiesis is reportedly transported from the mother to the fetus according to the demands of the fetus, but the iron storage was shown to be reduced in the fetuses of diabetic mothers.     

Studies on DNA markers (D4S10 and D4S43/S127) genetically linked to Huntington's disease in Japanese families

Summary This is the first full report on the genetic linkage between Japanese Huntington's disease and the DNA markers D4S10 and D4S43/S127. With use of the HindIII, BglI, and EcoRI polymorphisms detected at D4S10, and the combination of all these polymorphisms to give composite haplotypes, nine Japanese Huntington's disease families were found to be informative. Three recombinants for D4S10 were detected in these families, giving a maximum lod score of 1.662 at a of 0.10. Similarly, when we used the MspI and PvuII polymorphisms detected by D4S43/S127, five families gave informative results. No recombinant was detected in these families, giving a maximum lod score of 3.348 at a of 0.00. These results clearly support the view that the Japanese Huntington's disease gene may be identical with the Western gene, in spite of the lower prevalence rate in Japan.     

Species-specific TNF induction of thymocyte proliferation

Summary Recombinant murine (rMu) tumor necrosis factor (TNF), in a standard comitogenic assay with phytohemagglutinin, induced murine thymocyte proliferation, while up to 10,000-fold higher concentrations of recombinant human TNF did not. The induction of thymocyte proliferation was dependent upon TNF concentration in a biphasic manner. Thus, 100 to 1000 units/ml TNF were near optimal while concentrations 1,000 units/ml caused apparent down regulation. The effect was abrogated by neutralizing antibody to rMu-TNF but not by neutralizing antibody to rMu-interleukin 1 or . The rMu-TNF did not induce proliferation of the mature murine T-helper cell line, D10.G4.1, in the presence of mitogen. Taken together the results indicate that TNF, in a strictly species-specific manner, can regulate thymocyte proliferation independently of interleukin 1.Supported in part by Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Inc. and by USPHS Grants CA-24538, CA-15142 and CA-09072 awarded by the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services     

Characterization of membrane-bound spermidine dehydrogenase of Citrobacter freundii.

Spermidine dehydrogenase found in the membrane fraction of Citrobacter freundii IFO 12681 was solubilized with Triton X-100 and further purified to homogeneity. The properties of the membrane enzyme were almost identical to those obtained from the soluble fraction of the organism with respect to molecular and catalytic properties. Thus, binding properties of the enzyme to the bacterial membrane were checked. The ratio of enzyme activity found in the soluble fraction to the membrane fraction was dependent on salt concentration during cell disruption. A hydrophobic interaction was largely involved in anchoring the enzyme to the membrane fraction. Purified spermidine dehydrogenase from the soluble fraction was readily adsorbed into the membrane fraction in the presence of salt. Spermidine dehydrogenase appeared to be a membrane-bound enzyme localized in the cytoplasmic membranes in a manner that makes a partial release of the enzyme possible during mechanical cell disruption. When spermidine oxidation was done with the resting cells of C. freundii, a stoichiometric formation of two reaction products, 1,3-diaminopropane and gamma-aminobutyraldeyde, was observed without any lag time. These facts indicate that the enzyme is localized on the outer surface of the cytoplasmic membranes or in the periplasmic space of the organism.     

Very high incidence of germ cell tumorigenesis (seminomagenesis) in human papillomavirus type 16 transgenic mice.

Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) is frequently found in carcinomas and precancerous lesions of the uterine cervix and is thought to be closely associated with carcinogenesis in these regions. However, the transforming activity of the E6 and E7 genes in vivo has not been characterized. To investigate this function, we produced transgenic mice carrying HPV16 E6 and E7 open reading frames. We obtained five transgenic founders and established three transgenic lineages. We observed testicular tumors of germ cell origin in mice of all three lineages. Morphological studies showed that these tumors were a type of seminoma. Both testes of all tumor-bearing mice were affected with this type of tumor. Strikingly, in one lineage, all of the male mice developed this tumor. On Northern (RNA) analysis, a high level of expression of HPV mRNA was detected in these tumors. These results suggest that transforming genes of HPV16 have transforming activity in vivo and preferential effects on germ cells in the testis.     

Electronic structure and molecular design of simplified polyimide systems

The electronic structures of newly designed polyimide systems (ethenetetracarboxylic 1,2:1,2-dianhydride-diaminoethyne (PI-A) and ethenetetracarboxylic 1,1:2,2-dianhydride-diaminoethyne(PI-B)) are studied in detail with respect to their optimized geometries on the basis of the one-dimensional tight-binding self-consistent field crystal-orbital method. The computational results have revealed that PI-B shows intriguing properties such as a very small band gap and a wide bandwidth near the frontier level, compared with PI-A and other polyimides. Since PI-B would be a promising candidate for a new electric conducting material, a reaction diagram for this polymer is also proposed.Also affiliated to Central Research Laboratories, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Moriguchi 570, Japan.     

Isolation of endo A cDNA from mouse 8-cell stage embryos

To analyse the species of genes expressed in a cleavage stage mouse embryo, we have constructed a cDNA library containing 3.0 x 10(5) independent clones from about 2 x 10(3) embryos at the 8-cell stage of development. Endo A cDNA prepared from parietal yolk sac endoderm like PYS-2 cells was used to screen the library. Southern blot analyses using the endo A sequence as a probe and restriction mapping analyses revealed that four independent recombinants had been inserted endo A sequence. Sequencing data of these clones showed that endo A mRNA present in the 8-cell stage embryo is identical to that of parietal yolk sac endoderm cells.     

Effects of shear rate on rouleau formation in simple shear flow

A kinetic equation for rouleau formation in a simple shear flow is derived, based on several assumptions. These are (a) colliding rouleaux stick to one another with a certain probability to form a single rouleau; (b) simultaneous collisions between more than two rouleaux are negligible; (c) rouleaux are broken by a viscous force exerted by the suspending fluid on the surfaces of rouleaux; (d) when a rouleau is broken by viscous forces, only two fragments are formed. Based on a simple mathematical model, collision rate, sticking probability and degradation rate are obtained as functions of applied shear rate. From the solution of the kinetic equation, the average size of rouleaux is obtained as a function of time with shear rate as a parameter. It is shown that the average size of rouleaux increases monotonically with increasing time and tends to an equilibrium size. The average size of rouleaux in a dynamical equilibrium decreases monotonically with increasing shear rate and tends to one cell as shear rate approaches infinity. It is also found that the initial rate of rouleau formation increases with increasing shear rate at very low shear rate, but this trend is reversed at higher shear rates. The theoretical results are compared quantitatively with experimental data.