The distribution and mobility of surface anionic groups of normal human oesophageal epithelium following interaction with cationized verritin.

Oesophageal epithelial cells from biopsies from normal patients showed the presence of randomly distributed anionic groups, mostly sialic acid on the cell membrane in fixed material shown by cationized ferritin. When biopsies were pulse labelled, patching occurred in all three cell layers. Patching was energy dependent and did not occur at 4 degrees C. Pulse labelled material incubated on an unlabelled medium showed progressive loss of cationized ferritin from the cell membrane. This was mostly into the medium, although some was internalized in membrane profiles. A second pulse of cationized ferritin produced further patching suggesting regeneration of cell membrane. Superficial cells were leaky, but their organelles were not.     

Scottish Sarcodon imbricatus under scrutiny

Summary

Molecular techniques applied to Scottish collections of Sarcodon imbricatus showed that these collections did not belong to this species but to the closely related S. squamosus. This latter species is accepted as a member of the British mycota.     

Growth and survival of rumen fungi

The life cycle and growth kinetics of an anaerobic rumen fungus (Neocallimastix R1) in liquid and solid media are described, together with its response to light, temperature and oxygen. These results are discussed in relation to the survival of rumen fungi in saliva and faeces of sheep, and the possible routes for the transfer of anaerobic fungi between ruminants. The thallus and life cycle of Neocallimastix R1 are compared with those of aerobic chytrids.     

Structural and thermodynamic studies of simple aldose reductase–inhibitor complexes

The competitive inhibition constants of series of inhibitors related to phenylacetic acid against both wild-type and the doubly mutanted C298A/W219Y aldose reductase have been measured. Van’t Hoff analysis shows that these acids bind with an enthalpy near −6.8 kcal/mol derived from the electrostatic interactions, while the 100-fold differences in binding affinity appear to be largely due to entropic factors that result from differences in conformational freedom in the unbound state. These temperature studies also point out the difference between substrate and inhibitor binding. X-ray crystallographic analysis of a few of these inhibitor complexes both confirms the importance of a previously described anion binding site and reveals the hydrophobic nature of the primary binding site and its general plasticity. Based on these results, N-glycylthiosuccinimides were synthesized to demonstrate their potential in studies that probe distal binding sites. Reduced α-lipoic acid, an anti-oxidant and therapeutic for diabetic complications, was shown to bind aldose reductase with a binding constant of 1 μM.     

Disruption of chromosome 11 in canine fibrosarcomas highlights an unusual variability of CDKN2B in dogs

Background  

In dogs in the western world neoplasia constitutes the most frequently diagnosed cause of death. Although there appear to be similarities between canine and human cancers, rather little is known about the cytogenetic and molecular alterations in canine tumours. Different dog breeds are susceptible to different types of cancer, but the genetic basis of the great majority of these predispositions has yet to be discovered. In some retriever breeds there is a high incidence of soft tissue sarcomas and we have previously reported alterations of chromosomes 11 and 30 in two poorly differentiated fibrosarcomas. Here we extend our observations and present a case report on detail rearrangements on chromosome 11 as well as genetic variations in a tumour suppressor gene in normal dogs.     

Sexual dimorphism and discriminant function sexing in indigenous South African crania

This study aimed to examine sexual dimorphism in, and to produce a practical discriminant function for determining the sex of indigenous, Bantu-speaking, South African crania. The types of data to be used were a small number of traditional, or mathematically transformed three-dimensional, linear measurements, comparable to those in use by most physical and forensic anthropologists. The samples to be examined, separately and pooled, were of the Cape Nguni, Natal Nguni and Sotho subgroups. In addition, three local populations (‘tribes’—Zulu, Xhosa and Southern Sotho) within these subgroups were also studied.

Univariate male/female ratios indicate significant sexual dimorphism in the pooled South African crania. Canonical variates analysis of the pooled sample showed that facial width is the strongest discriminating morphometric variable; cranial length and basi-bregmatic height are the next most significant features. Eight measurements derived from the three-dimensional data were used to produce a series of discriminant functions for sex determination in the pooled sample, for which an accuracy of 77–80% was attained. Analysis of the calvaria and face, separately, has shown that the sex of damaged material can be diagnosed with a reasonable degree of accuracy (75–76%).

The new functions for the pooled indigenous South African sample provide improved sex discrimination accuracy compared to those obtained by employing the commonly utilised statistics of Giles & Elliot (1963), even when a modified sectioning point is used. Functions calculated for the separate local populations gave variable and fairly low improvements in sexing accuracy. As the subdivisions at all levels are at present quite rapidly disappearing in South Africa, for most purposes it is now best to simply apply the pooled data functions for sexing crania.