Helicobacter pylori in Barrett's esophagus.

Barrett's esophagus is an anatomicoclinical state in which, due to the prolonged action of gastroesophageal reflux, the squamous epithelium is replaced by columnar epithelium. Helicobacter pylori has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various gastrointestinal disorders and has occasionally been observed in Barrett's esophagus. The aim of this study is to determine the incidence of H. pylori in Barrett's esophagus and try to establish its role in the pathogenesis of this disorder. H. pylori was observed in 31 biopsies (44.3%) of the 70 studied, mainly when the epithelium is of the gastric atrophic-fundic type (p less than 0.01). Its presence shows no relation to the degree of inflammatory activity and does not seem, therefore, to play an important role in the pathogenesis of the lesion.     

Comparative chromatography of Brazilian coral snake (Micrurus) venoms.

1. Elution profiles of 11 coral snake venoms, including those of Micrurus albicinctus, M. corallinus, M. frontalis altirostris, M. f. brasiliensis, M. f. frontalis, M. fulvius fulvius, M. ibiboboca, M. lemniscatus ssp., M. rondonianus, M. spixii spixii and M. surinamensis surinamensis, were compared using high performance gel filtration and reverse phase media. 2. Micrurus venom profiles were compared with those of "outgroup" taxa Bothrops moojeni, Naja naja kaouthia and Bungarus multicinctus. 3. Purified elapid venom constituents were also chromatographed under identical conditions in order to suggest possible identities of Micrurus venom constituents. 4. Masses of various components were confirmed by mass spectrometry. 5. Phospholipase constituents in three venoms were positively identified based on their reverse phase chromatograms. 6. Venoms of M. rondonianus and M. s. surinamensis are shown to be significantly different in their peptide composition from other Micrurus venoms.     

Oligonucleotides covalently linked to intercalating agents. Influence of positively charged substituents on binding to complementary sequences

A pentamethylene chain was used to covalently link the 3'-phosphate of oligothymidylates to the 9-amino group of an acridine derivative. Positively charged substituents were further attached to the 3'-phosphate group to form 3'-phosphotriesters. These molecules form specific complexes with poly(rA) which involve the formation of a number of A X T base pairs equal to that of thymines in the oligonucleotide. Absorption changes induced in the acridine absorption bands are similar to those expected upon intercalation of the acridine dye between A X T base pairs. The acridine covalently linked to the 3'-phosphate strongly stabilizes the complexes formed with poly(rA) as compared with the corresponding unsubstituted oligodeoxynucleotide. The presence of a positively charged substituent on the 3'-phosphate together with the acridine dye further enhances the interaction. The effect of salt concentration on complex stability depends on the number of negatively charged phosphate groups of the oligodeoxynucleotide and on the nature of the substituents borne by the 3'-phosphate group. When the oligothymidylate is substituted by an acridine dye, the stability of the poly(rA) complexes increases when salt concentration increases. If an additional positively charged substituent is present on the 3'-phosphate group, stability decreases when salt concentration increases for the shortest oligonucleotide (trimer) and increases with longer oligonucleotides. Thermodynamic parameters have been calculated from the concentration dependence of melting temperatures.     

Cationic amino acid transport by two renal epithelial cell lines: LLC-PK1 and MDCK cells

LLC-PK1 and MDCK cells take up cationic amino acids (lysine and arginine) by a specific sodium independent transport system. Uptake is inhibited by ornithine in LLC-PK1 and MDCK cells either in the presence or absence of sodium and by glutamine or homoserine in MDCK cells in the presence of sodium. Trans-stimulation of uptake occurs in the presence of intracellular cationic amino acids. Experiments with valinomycin or with different extracellular potassium concentrations suggest that uptake is dependent on the membrane potential of these cells. These transport features are similar to those previously ascribed to a transport system denominated y+ in other cells. Further experiments suggested that this carrier system is localised to the basolateral membrane in each cell type.     

Isolation of a cAMP receptor protein from yeast mitochondria (Mr 45000) and comparison with mitochondrial RNA polymerase (Mr 45000)

We have isolated a cAMP-binding protein from highly purified yeast mitochondria by affinity chromatography. It is a lipophilic protein of molecular mass 45 000 Da, which is tightly membrane-bound and localized on the outer surface of the inner membrane. It can be solubilized in active form under mild conditions. The cAMP receptor resembles mitochondrial RNA polymerase prepared as described by Levens et al. [(1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 1474] in a surprisingly large number of properties including molecular mass. Comparison of the two proteins revealed that the polypeptide previously considered as RNA polymerase is, in fact, a mitochondrial cAMP receptor protein.     

Genetic aspects of ethanol tolerance and production bySaccharomyces cerevisiae

We developed a method of hybrid selection between homothallic wild-type and heterothallic strains. The hybrids obtained were used to study the heredity of ethanol tolerance and production. Both characters segregated independently, but no ethanol-sensitive strains were able to produce high levels of ethanol. At least four genes are implicated in ethanol tolerance.     

Development of the rete testis in the prenatal ontogeny of rodents and effect of prolactin and thyrotropin on its cellular differentiation

The development of rete testis in the rat, rabbit and guinea pig foetuses has been studied, as well as the influence of prolactin and thyrotropin on differentiation of its cells. It was shown that the rete testis tubules, as well as the seminiferous tubules develop from sex cords, which were derived from coelomic epithelium cells and gonocytes. The development of seminiferous tubules and rete testis was described at various stages of prenatal ontogenesis. Thyrotropin and prolactin exert different effects on differentiation of the rete testis cells: the former increases the mitotic activity of gonocytes and the latter increases that of epithelial cells and enhances degenerative processes in primary germ cells.     

Selection of Wine Yeasts for Growth and Fermentation in the Presence of Ethanol and Sucrose

To optimize the conversion of carbohydrates to ethanol, strains of several Saccharomyces species were examined for the ability to grow and ferment in a range of sucrose and ethanol concentrations. A total of 632 wine yeasts, most of them isolated from wineries in Andalusia and Extremadura, southwestern Spain, were subjected to screening and selection. Growth and fermentative capacity in different ethanol and sucrose concentrations varied from one strain to another. There was no correlation between growth and fermentative capacity. The best 35 strains grew in 15% ethanol and fermented in 18% ethanol. Ethanol accumulated, although at a reduced rate, after the cells stopped growing. Most yeast strains were highly fermentative in 50% sucrose. Some of them effectively utilized the carbohydrates of the culture, yielding final ethanol concentrations of > 14%. Of the 35 selected strains, 16 were promising for genetic analysis and breeding because of their capacity to sporulate. These strains were homothallic, and their spores were viable. The meiotic products analyzed so far were also homothallic.