Entomophthorosis of Culex pipiens (Culicidae) mosquitoes breeding in basements

Foci of mycosis of C. p. pipiens and C. p. molestus caused by the parasitic fungus Entomophthora conglomerata Sorok. were found out in basements flooded with water. The conditions prevailing in the foci, sites of infection of mosquitoes and seasonal changes in the epizootic process are described. Developmental periods of conidiospores in mosquitoes were established experimentally. Entomophthorosis epizootia was found to limit the possibilities of mosquitoes to scatter from the hatching sites and to reduce the number of biting females in the population.     

Comparative characteristics of human interleukin-2 preparations isolated from various sources

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) was isolated from donor peripheral blood lymphocytes and from JURKAT T-lymphoma cells. The purification procedure including gel filtration on DEAE and CM-Sephadex resulted in a 400-fold increase of the enzyme specific activity. It was shown that optimal proliferation of T-lymphocytes occurs upon consecutive treatment of cells with phytohaemagglutinin and IL-2 as well as in the presence of a serum. The properties and procedure of isolation of the long proliferating line of IL-2-dependent T-cells B-5 were described. Proliferation of B-5 cells completely depended on the presence of IL-2 in the medium, although long-term proliferation occurred upon periodic stimulation of cells with the antigen (allogenic lymphocytes). In the absence of IL-2 B-5 cells decay within 36 hours. The perspective uses of IL-2 prepared from the cultural fluid of human peripheral blood lymphocytes for adoptive immunotherapy of tumours and the applicability of IL-2-dependent B-5 cells for testing the activity of IL-2 preparations from various sources are discussed.