Inositol lipid-mediated signalling in response to endothelin and ATP in the mammalian testis

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry - The testis is a complex organ in which local control is achieved by signalling between its constituent cells. Herein we describe the responses of cultured rat...     

Carbon starvation of Salmonella typhimurium does not cause a general increase of mutation rates.

Mutation rates in bacteria can vary depending on the genetic target studied and the specific growth conditions of the cells. Here, two different methods were used to determine how rates of mutation to antibiotic resistance, auxotrophy, and prototrophy were influenced by carbon starvation on agar plates. The rate of mutation to rifampin resistance was increased by starvation as measured by fluctuation tests, similar to what has been reported previously for Escherichia coli. In contrast, the rates of mutation to various types of auxotrophy were unaffected or decreased as measured by both fluctuation tests and a repeated-streaking procedure. Similarly, the rates of reversion to prototrophy of his and lac nonsense and missense mutations were unaffected by starvation. Thus, mutation rates of different genetic targets can be affected differently by starvation and we conclude that carbon starvation is not generally mutagenic in Salmonella typhimurium.     

Activation of a muscle-specific enhancer by the Ski proto-oncogene.

In transgenic mice, muscle-specific expression of the c-ski oncogene induces hypertrophy exclusively in a subset of fast muscle fibers. Here we report that regulatory elements from two genes expressed in fast fibers, myosin light chain 1/3 (MLC) and muscle creatine kinase (MCK), were activated when co-transfected with c-ski expression vectors in myoblasts. The expression from the MLC enhancer was reduced when the c-ski oncogene was cotransfected with MyoD into NIH3T3 fibroblasts. Activation of the MLC enhancer by Ski also occurred in vivo, since bigenic progeny generated by mating MLC-CAT and MSV-skitransgenic mice displayed higher CAT activity in their muscles than did the MLC-CAT parental line. Identification of gene targets for the fiber-specific action of the c-ski gene product provides a molecular model that could be used for the further dissection of Ski-induced hypertrophy, both in tissue culture and in vivo.     

Galactosyl transferases of baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells. Characterization of two oligosaccharide products synthesised using bovine asialo submaxillary-gland mucin as acceptor

Extracts of BHK (baby hamster kidney) cells catalyse incorporation of galactose from UDP-galactose into asialo bovine submaxillary gland mucin. The galactosylated oligosaccharide products were released by alkaline-borohydride treatment and purified by Bio-Gel P2 chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. The structures of the oligosaccharide sequences synthesised have been identified unequivocally by high resolution 500 MHz 1H-NMR as galactosyl-(beta 1----3) N-acetylgalactosamine and galactosyl (beta 1----4) N-acetylglucosaminyl (beta 1----3)-N-acetylgalactosamine. Characterization of the latter sequence shows the presence in bovine mucin of the type III core sequence N-acetylglucosamine-(beta 1----3) N-acetylgalactosamine. Fractionation of BHK cell extracts on alpha-lactalbumin-Agarose has shown that the (beta 1----4)-galactosyl transferase responsible for synthesis of the trisaccharide binds to alpha-lactalbumin, a modulator of the (beta 1----4)-galactosyl transferase involved in N-glycan assembly. The evidence that the same transferase activity may be responsible for galactose transfer to both O-glycans and N-glycans is discussed.     

A simple liquid medium for chlamydospore formation in Candida albicans

A new, relatively simple and inexpensive liquid medium was devised to produce all structural forms ofC. albicans. Optimum conditions to induce the yeast cells, germ tubes, pseudohyphae and chlamydospores along with the methods to obtain them are described.Supported in part by Grant CA 20917, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health and ALSAC.     

Mastalgia: psychoneurosis or organic disease?

To test the traditional surgical view that pain in the breast is largely an expression of psychoneurosis, the Middelesex Hospital Questionnaire was given to 317 women with mastalgia and 170 controls with varicose veins. Their scores were compared with those of 173 women psychiatric outpatients tested by the designers of the questionnaire. The results were broadly similar in the mastalgia and varicose veins groups, and where there were significant differences women with varicose veins had a higher psychoneurotic score in each case. Within the mastalgia group no difference in scores was observed between patients with cyclical mastalgia and those with mastalgia due to periductal mastitis. Both groups of surgical outpatients had significantly lower scores in major traits than the psychiatric group, except for a small group of patients with breast pain who persistently failed to respond to treatment. Patients with mastalgia are therefore no more "neurotic" than those with varicose veins, and differ greatly from patients with recognized psychoneurosis. Most patients have a physiological or pathological basis for their breast pain, and they deserve an appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic approach.     

Modification by simetryn sulphoxide of a specific thiol group in rat haemoglobin.

Native rat haemoglobins were found to bind simetryn sulphoxide to an extent 40-fold greater than human haemoglobin. This specific behaviour was studied by using only high-pressure ('performance') liquid chromatography for the preparative separation of globin chains and the isolation of peptides resulting from chemical and enzymic degradation. High recoveries (greater than 80%) of peptides throughout the procedures in combination with microsequence techniques, allow a definitive assignment of the residue undergoing modification. The haemoglobin beta-chain cystine-125 residue, with a stoichiometry of one per tetramer of rat haemoglobin, was found to be modified. Stereochemical implications of this finding are discussed. Simetryn sulphoxide would appear to be useful as a specific reagent for the mapping of exposed thiol residues in proteins.     

Zinc content of the gills of rainbow trout (S. gairdneri) after treatment with zinc solutions under normoxic and hypoxic conditions

Forty specimens of rainbow trout (54–127 g) were divided into 4 groups which were treated as follows: (a) normoxic clean water; (b) hypoxic clean water; (c) normoxic water with 10 ppm zinc for 10 h; (d) hypoxic water with 10 ppm zinc for 10 h. The zinc content was determined separately for each of the 4 gill arches on each side of the fish. Values for the zinc concentration were greater following the zinc treatments, but no significant difference between hypoxia and normoxia was observed. Differences in concentrations of zinc were found in different arches whether expressed per gram dry weight or per unit surface area of the secondary lamellae.