Prenatal diagnosis of familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy: evidence for an early expression of the associated transthyretin methionine 30

Summary Transthyretin methionine 30 (TTR Met 30), which is associated with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy, originates in a single base substitution (A for G) in the second exon of the TTR gene. This autosomal dominant disease can be diagnosed by RFLP analysis of NsiI-digested DNA. The amplification of DNA by PCR improves the diagnosis method, making it suitable for prenatal diagnosis. Using PCR-amplified DNA, prenatal diagnosis of two at-risk fetuses was performed. Control Met 30 and normal DNA (either genomic or produced by site directed mutagenesis) were processed in parallel. The diagnosis was made by hybridization with allele-specific oligonucleotide probes, and later confirmed by screening of the mutant protein in the amniotic fluid and, when possible, in the sera from the newborns. TTR Met 30 was detected in the amniotic fluid of a positive fetus whose father was the carrier of the mutation. This indicates that the mutant protein is expressed very early in development.     

The daily variations of airborne fungal spores in Mexico City

The daily and seasonal distribution of airborne fungal particles was recorded in a high altitude tropical zone. Sampling was carried out in the southern part of Mexico City. An Andersen air sampler was used over a period of six months. Ten minutes sampling for each set of plates was done at fixed schedule: 07:30, 14:00 and 19:00 hours. The sampler was placed 10 m above the ground. Daily variation was found to be associated with the season, weather and atmospheric stability. The highest value of mold counts (3195 CFU m⁻³) was recorded in the evening on October, a transitional month between the rainy and the dry seasons, the lowest (45 CFU m⁻³) at noon during the rainy season. Mold counts were significantly correlated with temperature, having negative signs both in the morning and at noon, and being positive in the evening. The abundance of only three genera was recorded.Cladosporium, was isolated more frequently, and its abundance at 14:00 h was of 38%;Alternaria represented 4.0%, at 14:00 h, andAspergillus 3.0% at 7:30 h. Fifteen species belonging to the latter genera were identified and most of them are considered as opportunistic molds of clinical significance.     

Electrogenic behavior of the human red cell Ca2+ pump revealed by disulfonic stilbenes

Summary A systematic study was made of the action of 4-acetamido-4-isothiocyanostilbene-2,2-disulfonic acid (SITS) and 4,4-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2-disulfonic acid (DIDS) on active Ca²⁺ transport of human erythrocytes. Pumping activity was estimated in inside-out vesicles (IOV's) by means of Ca²⁺-selective electrodes or use of tracer⁴⁵Ca²⁺. The stilbenes exhibited an approximately equal inhibitory potency and their action could be overcome by carbonyl cyanidep-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP) at low but not at high stilbene concentrations. In the absence of DIDS. Ca²⁺ transport was not affected upon addition of valinomycin, but it was appreciably reduced when vesicles were preincubated with low DIDS concentrations. Such an effect was strictly dependent on the external K⁺ concentration and it was abolished when valinomycin was added together with FCCP. Similar results were obtained using IOV's prepared from intact cells which had been previously exposed to the stilbene. The findings clearly demonstrate the presence in human red cells of a partially electrogenic Ca²⁺ pump, exchanging one Ca²⁺ ion for one proton.     

Grafting of genetically modified cells: Effects of acetylcholine release in vivo

In this study, microdialysis was used to investigate functional recovery of central cholinergic neurons in the forebrain of rats with cortical devascularizing lesions. Mature male rats were unilaterally lesioned by disruption of the pia arachnoid vessels and genetically modified fibroblasts secreting nerve growth factor (NGF) were placed at the site of the lesion. One month following surgery, microdialysis probes were installed in the remaining cortex and were perfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid (csf) containing neostigmine (5 nM) and/or KCl (100 mM). The basal (non-stimulated) release of acetylcholine (ACh) in the cortex was similar in all experimental groups, whereas KCl stimulated release of ACh was significantly augmented (P < 0.05) in the ipsilateral remaining cortex in lesioned animals that have been implanted with fibroblasts secreting NGF. These results suggest that NGF secreted by genetically engineered fibroblasts modulates neuroplasticity in the adult mammalian CNS and may favour recovery of cortical function following injury.     

Autoradiographic study on [3H]flunitrazepam binding in rat cortex and hippocampus after chronic ethanol treatment

Ethanol alters almost all membrane functions, but it behaves essentially like a benzodiazepine-type GABAergic agonist. The mechanism by which ethanol affects the GABA/benzodiazepine complex is not clear. We studied the possible changes in [³H]flunitrazepam binding induced by chronic ethanol treatment, using light microscopic autoradiography, to try to elucidate the controversy underlying this topic. This technique allows us to measure densities of benzodiazepine receptors in different anatomical brain areas—visual cortex and hippocampus—which seem to constitute the anatomical support for the behavioral and physiological responses affected by ethanol. Autoradiographic studies on the visual cortex and hippocampus from rats chronically treated with ethanol do not show statistically significant differences in the binding of, [³H]flunitrazepam with respect to control animals. Furthermore, we did not find either rostro-caudal or medio-lateral differences, in benzodiazepine receptor densities in each layer of the visual cortex.     

Four cases of direct ion channel gating by cyclic nucleotides

Four different nucleotide-gated ion channels are discussed in terms of their biophysical properties and their importance in cell physiology. Channels activated directly by cGMP are present in vertebrate and invertebrate photoreceptors. In both cases cGMP increases the fraction of time the channel remains in the open state. At least three cGMP molecules are involved in channel opening in vertebrate photoreceptors and the concentration of the cyclic nucleotide to obtain the half maximal effect is about 15 µM. The light-dependent channel of both vertebrates and invertebrates is poorly cation selective. The vertebrate channel allows divalent cations to pass through 10–15-fold more easily than monovalent ions. In agreement with their preference for divalent cations, this channel is blocked byl-cis Dialtazem, a molecule that blocks certain types of calcium channels. In olfactory neurons a channel activated by both cAMP and cGMP is found and, as in the light-dependent channel, several molecules of the nucleotide are needed to open the channel with a half maximal effect obtained in the range of 1–40 µM. The channel is poorly cationic selective. A K⁺ channel directly and specifically activated by cAMP is found inDrosophila larval muscle. At least three cAMP molecules are involved in the opening reaction. Half-maximal effect is obtained at about 50 µM. This channel is blocked by micromolar amount of tetraethylammonium applied internally. Interestingly, this channel has a probability of opening 10–20-fold larger in the mutantdunce, a mutant that possesses abnormally elevated intracellular cAMP level, than in the wild type.     

A guinea-pig hereditary cataract contains a splice-site deletion in a crystallin gene

A congenital cataract present in guinea pigs provided a unique opportunity to study a hereditary lens diseases at the molecular level. ζ-crystallin, one of the most abundant guinea pig lens proteins, was found to be altered in the lens of cataractous animals. Several ζ-crystallin cDNA clones were isolated from a cataractous lens library and found to contain a 102-bp deletion towards the 3′ end of the coding region. The deletion does not interfere with the reading frame but results in a protein 34 amino acids shorter. Sequence analysis of a normal genomic ζ-crystallin clone revealed that the missing 102-bp fragment corresponds to an entire exon (exon 7). PCR analysis of the genomic DNA isolated from cataractous animals showed that exon 7, though missing from the mRNA, is intact in the cataractous genome. Further sequence analysis of the α-crystallin gene disclosed a dinucleotide delection of the universal AG at the acceptor splice-site of intron 6 of the mutant gene. The presence of this mutation results in the skipping of exon 7 during the mRNA processing which in turn results in the altered ζ-crystallin protein. This if the first time a genomic mutation in an enzyme/crytallin gene has been directly linked to a congenital cataract.     

A lacZ-pbpB gene fusion coding for an inducible hybrid protein that recognizes localized sites in the inner membrane of Escherichia coli.

An in-phase gene fusion consisting of the 5'-terminal 1,314 base pairs (bp) of the structural gene for beta-galactosidase (lacZ) and the 3'-terminal 1,644 bp of the structural gene coding for penicillin-binding protein 3 (pbpB) of Escherichia coli was constructed and cloned in the plasmid pDIAM64. The product of the fusion gene was a remarkably stable protein with an apparent molecular weight of 110,000 (p110) that retained the ability to covalently interact with beta-lactam antibiotics. The fusion protein was found associated with the membrane at low levels of induction, but it accumulated in the cytoplasm of cells induced for a long time as inclusion bodies of high density. Inclusion bodies were localized at defined positions corresponding to septal sites in all of the pDIAM64-containing strains tested except PAT84 and GD113 (which carry the ftsZ84 mutant allele). These findings indicate a possible role of the FtsZ protein in the integration of Pbp3 into the membrane and in septum localization during the cell division cycle.     

Peptidoglycan biosynthesis in stationary-phase cells of Escherichia coli.

The ability of stationary-phase cells of Escherichia coli W7 to incorporate radioactive precursors into macromolecular murein has been studied. During the initial 6 h of the stationary phase, resting cells incorporated meso-[3H]diaminopimelic acid at a rate corresponding to the insertion of 1.3 X 10(4) disaccharide units min-1 cell-1. Afterwards, the rate of incorporation dropped drastically (90%) to a low but still detectable level. Incorporation during stationary phase did not result in an increased amount of total murein in the culture, suggesting that it was related to a turnover process. Analysis of the effects of a number of beta-lactam antibiotics indicated that incorporation of murein precursors in stationary-phase cells was mediated by penicillin-binding proteins, suggesting that the activity of penicillin-binding protein 2 was particularly relevant to this process.     

The Ultrastructure of the Gastrodermal Gland Cells in the Freshwater Planarian Dugesia gonocephala s.l.

Light and transmission electron microscopy have been used to study the gastrodermal gland cells of the triclad Dugesia gonocephala s.l. The events involved in the ultrastructural transformation and the secretion process in these cells were followed at four different stages in both fasted and fed animals. During the feeding stage their secretory granules are directly discharged into the intestinal lumen by means of a secretion process of the holocrine type that is described in this paper. It is suggested that such secretions contribute to extracellular digestion and that disintegration of the gland cells is accompanied by a differentiation of neoblasts into new gland cells, reflecting a turnover of gland cells during the triclad digestive stages.