Effects of mercury on ion and osmoregulation in the shore crab Carcinus maenas (L.)

The effects of lethal mercury concentrations on regulation of hemolymph electrolytes in the shore crab Carcinus maenas were investigated. In most experiments mercury exposure reduced hemolymph osmolality and Na+, Cl- and K+ levels to 55-90% of controls in 48 hr. Mercury exposure augmented calcium levels to 120-300% of controls. The effect of mercury on all of the electrolytes varied during the year, especially on magnesium levels which showed significant increases or decreases, or remained unaffected in different experiments.     

Enzymatic function in crystals of delta 5-3-ketosteroid isomerase. Catalytic activity and binding of competitive inhibitors

Crystals of the steroid-metabolizing enzyme, delta 5-3-ketosteroid isomerase (EC 5.3.3.1) from Pseudomonas testosteroni, exhibit many enzymatic properties. Each enzyme subunit in the lattice binds a competitive inhibitor, progesterone, with the same stoichiometry (1:1) and affinity (KD = 6 X 10(-6) M) as the enzyme in solution. Another competitive inhibitor, 19-nortestosterone, competes with progesterone for the same binding sites in the crystal. The enzyme crystals catalyze the conversion of delta 5- to delta 4-ketosteroids, but because the enzyme is so efficient, and substrate diffusion into the crystal is so slow, substrate cannot penetrate deeply into the crystal before being converted to product. A general theoretical formulation is presented to account for the effects of substrate diffusion into enzyme crystals of different shapes and sizes. The dependence of apparent mean enzyme activity in steroid isomerase crystals as a function of crystal size is shown to be consistent with this theoretical formulation. These inhibitor binding and catalytic properties suggest that the enzyme is in an active conformation within these crystals.     

Hypophysiotrophic thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) synthesizing neurons. Ultrastructure, adrenergic innervation and putative transmitter action

The neuropeptide thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) is capable of influencing both neuronal mechanisms in the brain and the activity of the pituitary-thyroid endocrine axis. By the use of immunocytochemical techniques, first the ultrastructural features of TRH-immunoreactive (IR) perikarya and neuronal processes were studied, and then the relationship between TRH-IR neuronal elements and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) or phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase (PNMT)-IR catecholaminergic axons was analyzed in the parvocellular subnuclei of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN). In control animals, only TRH-IR axons were detected and some of them seemed to follow the contour of immunonegative neurons. Colchicine treatment resulted in the appearance of TRH-IR material in parvocellular neurons of the PVN. At the ultrastructural level, immunolabel was associated with rough endoplasmic reticulum, free ribosomes and neurosecretory granules. Non-labelled axons formed synaptic specializations with both dendrites and perikarya of the TRH-synthesizing neurons. TRH-IR axons located in the parvocellular units of the PVN exhibited numerous intensely labelled dense-core and fewer small electron lucent vesicles. These axons were frequently observed to terminate on parvocellular neurons, forming both bouton- and en passant-type connections. The simultaneous light microscopic localization of DBH or PNMT-IR axons and TRH-synthesizing neurons demonstrated that catecholaminergic fibers established contacts with the dendrites and cell bodies of TRH-IR neurons. Ultrastructural analysis revealed the formation of asymmetric axo-somatic and axo-dendritic synaptic specializations between PNMT-immunopositive, adrenergic axons and TRH-IR neurons in the periventricular and medial parvocellular subnuclei of the PVN. These morphological data indicate that the hypophysiotrophic, thyrotropin releasing hormone synthesizing neurons of the PVN are directly influenced by the central epinephrine system and that TRH may act as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator upon other paraventricular neurons.     

The use of carotenoids and oxonol VI as probes for membrane potential in proteoliposomes

Carotenoids present in lipids extracted from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus 6716 indicate trans-membrane potential in proteoliposomes reconstituted from these lipids and the ATPase complex isolated from the same organism. A carotenoid absorbance band shift to a longer wavelength is obtained with valinomycin-induced potassium ion diffusion potentials, irrespective of the polarity of the potassium gradient. In contrast to this, the (externally added) probe oxonol VI only shows an absorbance band shift when the external potassium ion concentration is higher than the internal one. In liposomes without ATPase complex, no carotenoid absorbance band shifts were observed.     

Heat exchanges in wet suits

Flow of water under foam neoprene wet suits could halve insulation that the suits provided, even at rest in cold water. On the trunk conductance of this flow was approximately 6.6 at rest and 11.4 W . m-2 . C-1 exercising; on the limbs, it was only 3.4 at rest and 5.8 W . m-2 . degrees C-1 exercising; but during vasoconstriction in the cold, skin temperatures on distal parts of limbs were lower than were those of the trunk, allowing adequate metabolic responses. In warm water, minor postural changes and movement made flow under suits much higher, approximately 60 on trunk and 30 W . m-2 . degrees C-1 on limbs, both at rest and at work. These changes in flow allowed for a wide range of water temperatures at which people could stabilize body temperature in any given suit, neither overheating when exercising nor cooling below 35 degrees C when still. Even thin people with 4- or 7- mm suits covering the whole body could stabilize their body temperatures in water near 10 degrees C in spite of cold vasodilatation. Equations to predict limits of water temperature for stability with various suits and fat thicknesses are given.     

Increase of sialyltransferase activity in the serum and liver of inflamed rates

Induction of inflammation by turpentine injection caused 1.5–2-fold increase of both sialy- and galactosyltransferase activity in liver homogenates. The effect was apparent after 12 h turpentine treatment. Serum sialytransferase activity started to increase in the inflamed rats after 18 h, reaching a maximum of 4-fold at 48 h. In contrast, galactosyltransferase activity in serum showed no significant increase. The coordinated and temporal increase of sialytransferase activity in liver and serum suggest involvement of a specific mechanism for the preferential release of this enzyme into serum.     

Biological effects of D2O administration to Coturnix japonica

Levels of 7.8, 18.5 and 26 mole % deuterium oxide were administered sequentially to $\text{Coturnix japonica}$ (Japanese quail) via the drinking water. The primary effect observed was on egg frequency, which decreased from a normal level of 0.89 for 7.8 mole % D₂O to a low of 0.38 during the administration of 26 mole % D₂O. Adverse symptoms, such as hyperexcitability, convulsions, skin ulcerations, comatosity, weight loss, or death, which have been associated with deuterium toxicity in other animals, were not observed in these experiments. The amount of deuterium deposited in the water of the egg was 6.9, 13.98, and 19.83 mole % when 7.8, 18.5 and 26 mole % deuterium respectively was administered. For each period, the deuterium content of egg water rapidly reached a maximum concentration after which the concentration decreased slightly. This dilution effect has not been noted previously in body fluids from other animals.