CVF-induced decomplementation: effect on lung transvascular protein flux after thrombin

We examined the effects of cobra venom factor (CVF) on the changes in pulmonary hemodynamics and transvascular fluid and protein exchange following thrombin-induced pulmonary microembolism. Studies were made in unanesthetized sheep prepared with lung lymph fistulas. The animals received tranexamic acid (100 mg) to suppress fibrinolysis and were then challenged with an intravenous infusion of alpha-thrombin (80 U/kg). Control-thrombin challenged sheep were compared with the CVF-treated sheep challenged with the same thrombin dosage. CVF treatment (187 U X kg-1 X day-1 for 4 days) decreased the total hemolytic complement activity by 45% of control. Thrombin infusion in control sheep increased the mean pulmonary arterial pressure (Ppa), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), and lymph protein clearance (pulmonary lymph flow X lymph-to-plasma protein concentration ratio, Clym). Thrombin infusion in CVF-treated sheep produced smaller increments in Ppa, PVR, and Clym. Pulmonary lymph obtained from control-thrombin and CVF-thrombin sheep induced migration of granulocytes obtained from normal unchallenged sheep. The granulocytes obtained from CVF-treated sheep responded relatively less to the migratory and O-2-generating stimuli (i.e., zymosan-treated serum, pulmonary lymph from sheep after thrombin challenge, and plasma from sheep after CVF treatment) compared with normal granulocytes. The attenuation of the thrombin-induced increases in Ppa, PVR, and lung transvascular fluid and protein exchange by CVF treatment may be the result of impaired function of granulocytes.     

Phenolic acid effects on peanut growth and oil production

Plants of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L. var. PG No. 1) were given two foliar sprays of phenolic compounds (H-acid, 1, 2, 4-acid, resorcinol and RD-Brown) at 100 and 200 ppm, 35 and 50 days after sowing. In treated plants, shelling %, yield (kg/ha), number of gynophores per plant and number of pods per plant were significantly greater than in the control. Oil content of kernels also showed a significant increase with all the phenolic compounds applied. These compounds increased the linoleic acid concentration so improving nutritional quality. The number of gynophores was significantly correlated with the number of pods per plant and yield per hectare. The effect of phenolic compounds on growth and development was independent of their structural configuration.     

A skin disease of the eels caused by Myxobolus kotlami n. sp.

In elvers (Anguilla anguilla) imported yearly to a fish farm in Hungary the regular occurrence of a Myxobolus infection was recorded. The parasite produces oval or spherical plasmodia of 0.1–0.2·0.07–0.12mm in the subcutaneous and intermuscular connective tissue of the head. In each piasmodium about 200 to 400 spores develop which differ morphologically from the spores of all Myxobolus species known from the eel and other fishes. Based upon the characteristic location of plasmodia and spore morphology, this parasite is described as a new species, Myxobolus kotlani.     

Substrate recognition by the 2 micron circle site-specific recombinase: effect of mutations within the symmetry elements of the minimal substrate.

The minimal substrate for the 2 microns circle site-specific recombinase FLP consists of a nearly perfect 13-base-pair dyad symmetry with an 8-base-pair core. By using a series of chemically synthesized FLP substrates in in vitro FLP recombination and FLP-binding assays, we have identified four positions within each of the symmetry elements that are important contact points for the FLP protein. Furthermore, the binding and recombination data provide evidence for cooperativity between the two symmetry elements of a substrate and between the symmetry elements of two partner substrates during FLP recombination.     

Activities of Enzymes of Carbohydrate Metabolism during Development of Okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench] Seed

Changes in activity levels of important enzymes of carbohydratemetabolism (and ß-amylases, sucrose synthetase, acidinvertase, acid phosphatase, glucose phosphate isomerase, aldolase,phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase) during seed developmentwere determined. Changes in the activities of these enzymesand their functional significance in developing seeds are described.A close correlation was found between the stage of maximum carbohydrateoxidation and the accumulation of reserve materials in the developingseeds. ¹Present address: School of Agriculture and Forestry, Universityof Melbourne, Parkvilie 3052, Victoria, Australia. ²Present address: School of Botany, University of Melbourne,Parkville 3052, Victoria, Australia. (Received October 8, 1982; Accepted January 10, 1983)     

Effect of complement depletion on lung fluid balance after thrombin

We examined the effect of complement depletion on lung fluid and protein exchange after thrombin-induced pulmonary thromboembolization. Sheep were prepared with lung lymph fistulas to assess pulmonary transvascular fluid and protein dynamics. Studies were made in three groups: in group I (n = 5) pulmonary thromboembolization (PT) was induced by an iv infusion of thrombin (55.0 +/- 12.9 NIH U/kg); in group II (n = 6) cobra venom factor (CVF) was given ip (94.5 +/- 18.8 U/kg/day) for 2 days to deplete complement, and then thrombin (66.4 +/- 37.0 NIH U/kg) was infused to raise pulmonary vascular resistance to the same level as in group I; in group III (n = 10) left atrial pressure (Pla) was increased by 10-15 Torr in normal animals by inflation of a Foley balloon catheter. In group I, thrombin infusion caused an increase in pulmonary lymph flow (Qlym) with a gradual increase in the lymph-to-plasma protein concentration ratio (L/P). In complement-depleted sheep, thrombin caused a transient increase in Qlym, which was associated with a decrease in L/P. In group I an increase in Pla further increased Qlym but without a change in L/P, indicating an increase in lung vascular permeability to proteins; whereas in the decomplemented-thrombin sheep raising Pla increased Qlym but decreased L/P. Results in the latter group were similar to those obtained in normal animals after left atrial hypertension (group III). Therefore the complement system participates in the increase in lung vascular permeability following thrombin-induced microembolization.     

Chemical modification of Escherichia coli succinyl-CoA synthetase with the adenine nucleotide analogue 5''-p-fluorosulphonylbenzoyladenosine.

Escherichia coli succinyl-CoA synthetase (EC 6.2.1.5) was irreversibly inactivated on incubation with the adenine nucleotide analogue 5'-p-fluorosulphonylbenzoyladenosine (5'-FSBA). Optimal inactivation by 5'-FSBA took place in 40% (v/v) dimethylformamide. ATP and ADP protected the enzyme against inactivation by 5'-FSBA, whereas desulpho-CoA, an analogue of CoA, did not. Inactivation of succinyl-CoA synthetase by 5'-FSBA resulted in total loss of almost four thiol groups per alpha beta-dimer, of which two groups appeared to be essential for catalytic activity. 5'-FSBA at the first instance appeared to interact non-specifically with non-essential thiol groups, followed by a more specific reaction with essential thiol groups in the ATP(ADP)-binding region. Plots of the data according to the method of Tsou [(1962) Sci. Sin. 11, 1535-1558] revealed that, of the two slower-reacting thiol groups, only one was essential for catalytic activity. When succinyl-CoA synthetase that had been totally inactivated by 5'-FSBA was unfolded in acidic urea and then refolded in the presence of 100 mM-dithiothreitol, 85% of the activity, in comparison with the appropriate control, was restored. These data are interpreted to indicate that inactivation of succinyl-CoA synthetase by 5'-FSBA involves the formation of a disulphide bond between two cysteine residues. Disulphide bond formation likely proceeds via a thiosulphonate intermediate between 5'-p-sulphonylbenzoyladenosine and one of the reactive thiol groups of the enzyme.     

Inducing sporulation in Alternaria solani II. Effect of light

Among the three different light sources viz. incandescent electric light, infra-red light and sunlight, only sunlight was effective in inducing sporulation in petri dish cultures ofA. solani. The intensity of sporulation depended upon the age and growth stage of the cultures, duration and number of exposures to light and the presence or absence of a sporulating zone in the culture. Maximum sporulation was obtained in the case of 6 days old partially grown cultures by inducing the formation of sporulating zone which appeared in 24 hours after every exposure of 60 minutes to sunlight.     

Effect of zinc on increasing oxygen affinity of sickle and normal red blood cells

We have hypothesized a state of zinc deficiency in sickle cell disease (SCD). This could at least partially explain the growth problems, hypogonadism, and slow healing leg ulcers associated with SCD. Preliminary findings revealed abnormally low red blood cell zinc levels in 10 of 16 patients studied. Before suggesting zinc supplementation in SCD we thought it important to look at the effect of zinc on red cell metabolism and function. It was found that zinc chloride added to normal and SCD blood to a final concentration of 1.5 × 10^?3 M caused a left-shift of the blood oxygen affinity curve (increased oxygen affinity) varying from 1.5 to 3.5 mm Hg change in half saturation (p50). This curve shifting property has important implications for SCD since recent work with cyanate suggests that such shifts are very beneficial in treatment of SCD. Thus zinc supplementation in SCD, in addition to its potential role in correcting wound healing and growth problems, may have a beneficial effect on the basic pathological process. Data are given which suggest that zinc and 2, 3-diphosphoglycerate may not be competing for the same site on the hemoglobin molecule.