BIOCHEMISTRY OF CEREBRAL TUMOURS: SODIUM, POTASSIUM, CALCIUM, PHOSPHORUS, MAGNESIUM, COPPER AND SULPHUR CONTENTS OF ASTROCYTOMATA, MEDULLOBLASTOMATA AND GLIOBLASTOMATA MULTIFORME

Abstract— Twenty-nine autopsy specimens of intracerebral tumours (nine astrocytomata, ten medulloblastomata and ten glioblastomata multiforme), as well as samples of peritumoral and apparently normal brain tissue, have been studied for Na, K, P, Ca, Mg, Cu, and S contents.
The tumour tissue, irrespective of the histological characteristics, as compared to the 'normal' and perineoplastic tissues, showed higher concentration of Ca, Mg, Cu and S. The peritumoral tissue, regardless of the tumour type, showed a higher concentration of Cu than the 'normal' control brain.
The more malignant glioblatomata and medulloblastomata. The Cu levels did not show a significant diference.     

Protein Synthesis During Fungal Spore Germination II. Aminoacyl-soluble Ribonucleic Acid Synthetase Activities During Germination of Botryodiplodia theobromae Spores

The specific activities of 13 aminoacyl-soluble ribonucleic acid (sRNA) synthetases were measured at various time intervals during the germination of Botryodiplodia theobromae conidiospores. The enzyme activities were low or absent in ungerminated spores, and they increased rapidly as germination proceeded. When extracts of the ungerminated spores were prepared with mortar and pestle, very little or no enzyme activity was detected. When the extracts were prepared with a mechanical homogenizer, however, they exhibited some enzyme activity, although less than did the extracts from germinated spores. Enzyme activities from germinated spores were approximately the same, regardless of the method of preparation. The enzyme fraction from ungerminated spores prepared with a mechanical homogenizer could also stimulate incorporation of phenylalanine into polyphenylalanine in the presence of ribosomes, polyuridylic acid, and sRNA, although the activity was approximately only 15 to 20% that of a similar enzyme fraction from germinated spores. It is concluded that ungerminated spores of B. theobromae contain active aminoacyl-sRNA synthetases and transfer enzymes, although the activities are low when compared to germinated spores.     

Rubella virus interference and interferon production

An interference technique for the titration of rubella virus on primary rabbit kidney (PRK) cells using either vaccinia or vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) as challenge is described.Rubella virus passed and propagated on PRK-cells interfered with a challenge dose of either vaccinia virus or VSV given on the 7th day after inoculation. Concomitantly, interferon was demonstrated in these cultures in amounts up to 100 units per ml.The same strain of rubella virus passed on a continuous rabbit kidney cell line (RK13) induced no interferon in PRK-cells. Yet it interfered equally well with a challenge of vaccinia virus or VSV.Under experimental conditions where no interferon could be detected, rubella virus growth inhibited the one-cycle multiplication of poliovirus-RNA, suggesting that interference resides at the intracellular level.Under the described experimental conditions the multiplication of rubella virus in PRK-cells was not inhibited by an amount of interferon 20 times higher than that necessary to inhibit vaccinia virus cytopathic effect in the same cell system.Aspirant of the Belgian N.F.W.O.Navorsingsstagiair of the Belgian N.F.W.O.     

Frictional coefficients of multisubunit structures. I. Theory

The theory of Kirkwood for the translational frictional coefficients of structures composed of subunits has been generalized in two ways in order to consider aggregates of nonidentical subunits. One of these generalizations fails when the sizes of subunits are too disparate; the other, derived from a surface shell distribution of frictional elements, is effective over the whole range of relative sizes. It is shown that, in the limit of a continuous surface distribution, a shell model reproduces Stoke's law for a sphere. Comparison is made between the frictional coefficients of spheres, ellipsoids, and rods modeled by finite numbers of subunits and by continuous shells of frictional elements, and those calculated from other theories. Agreement is generally good, though the shell model for prolate ellipsoids of revolution deviates by a few per cent from the Perrin value.