New labdane resin acids from Pinus elliottii

Slash pine needles and cortex oleoresin have been found to contain a new major diterpene constituent, imbricataloic acid. The closely related imbricatoloic acid, previously reported only in Araucaria imbricata, was found to be present in small amounts in slash pine needle extract. Spectral data are given for an unidentified diterpene alcohol isolated from the cortex oleoresin.     

Misincorporation during DNA synthesis, analyzed by gel electrophoresis.

A method has been developed for simultaneous comparison of the propensity of a DNA polymerase to misincorporate at different points on a natural template-primer. In this method elongation of a [5'-32P] primer, annealed to a bacteriophage template strand, is carried out in the presence of only three dNTPs (highly purified by HPLC). Under these conditions the rate of primer elongation (monitored by gel electrophoresis/autoradiography) is limited by the rate of misincorporation at template positions complementary to the missing dNTP. Variations in the rate of elongation (revealed by autoradiographic banding patterns) reflect variations in the propensity for misincorporation at different positions along the template. The effect on primer elongation produced by addition of a chemically modified dNTP to 'minus' reactions reveals the mispairing potential of the modified nucleotide during DNA synthesis. By use of this electrophoretic assay of misincorporation we have demonstrated that the fidelity of E. coli DNA polymerase I varies greatly at different positions along a natural template, and that BrdUTP and IodUTP can be incorporated in place of dCTP during chain elongation catalyzed by this enzyme.     

Glycogen debranching enzyme: purification, antibody characterization, and immunoblot analyses of type III glycogen storage disease.

Type III glycogen storage disease is caused by a deficiency of glycogen debranching-enzyme activity. Many patients with this disease have both liver and muscle involvement, whereas others have only liver involvement without clinical or laboratory evidence of myopathy. To improve our understanding of the molecular basis of the disease, debranching enzyme was purified 238-fold from porcine skeletal muscle. In sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis the purified enzyme gave a single band with a relative molecular weight of 160,000 that migrated to the same position as purified rabbit-muscle debranching enzyme. Antiserum against porcine debranching enzyme was prepared in rabbit. The antiserum reacted against porcine debranching enzyme with a single precipitin line and demonstrated a reaction having complete identity to those of both the enzyme present in crude muscle and the enzyme present in liver extracts. Incubation of antiserum with purified porcine debranching enzyme inhibited almost all enzyme activity, whereas such treatment with preimmune serum had little effect. The antiserum also inhibited debranching-enzyme activity in crude liver extracts from both pigs and humans to the same extent as was observed in muscle. Immunoblot analysis probed with anti-porcine-muscle debranching-enzyme antiserum showed that the antiserum can detect debranching enzyme in both human muscle and human liver. The bands detected in human samples by the antiserum were the same size as the one detected in porcine muscle. Five patients with Type III and six patients with other types of glycogen storage disease were subjected to immunoblot analysis. Although anti-porcine antiserum detected specific bands in all liver and muscle samples from patients with other types of glycogen storage disease (Types I, II, and IX), the antiserum detected no cross-reactive material in any of the liver or muscle samples from patients with Type III glycogen storage disease. These data indicate (1) immunochemical similarity of debranching enzyme in liver and muscle and (2) that deficiency of debranching-enzyme activity in Type III glycogen storage disease is due to absence of debrancher protein in the patients that we studied.     

Three-dimensional perfused cell culture

Compelling evidence suggests the limitation and shortcomings of the current and well established cell culture method using multi-well plates, flasks and Petri dishes. These are particularly important when cell functions are sensitive to the local microenvironment, cell–cell and cell–extracellular matrix interactions. There is a clear need for advanced cell culture systems which mimic in vivo and more physiological conditions. This review summarises and analyses recent progress in three dimensional (3D) cell culture with perfusion as the next generation cell culture tools, while excluding engineered tissue culture where three dimensional scaffold has to be used for structural support and perfusion for overcoming mass transfer control. Apart from research activities in academic community, product development in industry is also included in this review.